Cyclic alternating pattern in normal children aged 12 to 24 months

Objective: The aim of this study is to complement existing data on the expression and characteristics of cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) in children, specifically in the 12 to 24 month age bracket. Method: Descriptive study. Settings: a university pediatric sleep laboratory. Participants: Twelve normal and healthy subjects (6 girls and 6 boys, mean age 18.9 +/- 4.72 months; range 12-24 months underwent a standard polysomnography night recording in our pediatric sleep laboratory. Sleep stages and CAP were analyzed according to standard international rules. Results: CAP rate found in children of 12 to 24 months of age was (25.78 +/- 10.18%) and it is characterized by a linear increase of 2% per month, from 12% at 12 months reaching 35% at 24 months. With coefficient of determination R-2 of 0.91. The duration of A phases was 6.93 +/- 1.06 seconds, and B phases was found to last 21.44 +/- 2.31 seconds. The number of CAP cycles was 173.25 +/- 73.85 with an average index per hour of 33.55 +/- 14.61. The number of CAP sequences reached 25.25 +/- 9.55 per recording. CAP rate for the different type of A phases are (21.83 +/- 9.68%), for A1, (2.43 +/- 2.30%) for A3 and (1.67 +/- 1.11%) for A2. Conclusion: Our study provides normative data on CAP in a group of young children (12 to 24 months). The most salient result of this study is the strong correlation of CAP rate of 2% per month in this age group.