Obstructive sleep apnea in children with down syndrome - Prevalence and evaluation of surgical treatment

Introduction: The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in the pediatric population with Down syndrome (DS) is reported to be 45-76%. The criterion "gold" standard for diagnosing OSA is polysomnography (PSG). First-hand surgical treatment is adenotonsillectomy (ATE), and another option is adenopharyngoplasty (APP). The aims of this study were to determine the OSA prevalence among children with DS who had undergone PSG and to evaluate and compare the efficiency and results of ATE and APP treatments. Methods and materials: Children < 18 years old with DS who underwent PSG at Karolinska University Hospital were included in this retrospective cohort study. Medical records were examined for patient age, sex, medical comorbidity diagnoses, and OSA treatment, and the results from PSG and the quality of life questionnaire OSA-18 were registered. The prevalence and degree of OSA were calculated. Results from a nonsystematic subgroup that underwent postoperative PSG and the OSA-18 were compiled to evaluate surgical efficiency. Pre- and postoperative results from APP and ATE patients were compared. Results: In the study, 138 DS children were included. The OSA prevalence was 82.6%, and 39.9% had severe OSA, with a median (range) apnea hypopnea index (AHI) of 7.6 (0-104). Other comorbidity diagnoses were found for ear disease in 60%, circulatory disease in 51% and endocrine disease in 39% of patients. A nonsystematic subgroup of 33 patients underwent postoperative PSG, with a residual prevalence of moderate or severe OSA of 63.6%. Among the ATE and APP patients with pre- and postoperative PSG (n = 20), no difference between the groups was shown, but the values were significantly improved as a whole: the median AHI changed from 21.1 to 12.4 and the median OSA-18 rating changed from 54.0 to 35.0. Conclusions: In this population of children with DS, the OSA prevalence was over 80%, wherefore continued screening and treatment are strongly supported. Uncertain surgical efficiency was indicated, and no significant difference in the results for ATE and APP was shown. When interpreting the results, it should be taken into consideration that the frequency of postoperative PSG was low and nonsystematic and that the groups were unequal and small.