• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.56-60
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• 2009

Excessive daytime sleepiness in childhood might be abnormal phenomenon and often related to the sleep disorders or insufficient sleep duration. The most common cause of excessive daytime sleepiness would be insufficient sleep. However, narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, medication, medical illness and other sleep disorders that could cause insomnia and poor quality of sleep also result in excessive daytime sleepiness. The misdiagnosed and untreated excessive daytime sleepiness in childhood can lead to serious developmental and educational problem.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 2008

Introduction: In this study, we compared sleep structure, EEG characteristic of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and normal controls which were matched in sex and age. Methods: Fifteen children (male：female=4：11) who complained snoring and were suspected to have sleep apnea and their age and sex matched normal controls (male：female=5：10) have been done nocturnal polysomnography (NPSG). Sleep parameters, sleep apnea variables and relative spectral components of EEG from NPSG have been compared between both groups. Results: Pediatric OSA group were distinguished from normal controls in terms of apnea index, respiratory disturbance index and nadir of oxyhemoglobulin desaturation. Pediatric OSA group showed increased percent of sleep stage 1, decreased rapid eye movement sleep percent and increased delta power in O1 EEG channel. However other sleep parameters and spectral powers were not different between two groups. Conclusion: In pediatric OSA group, sleep structure parameter disruption may be not prominent as the previous studies for adult OSA group because of including mild OSA data in diagnostic criteria. In addition, EEG changes might not be distinct due to low arousal index compared to adult OSA patients. We can observe general characteristics and particularity of pediatric OSA through this study.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.50-54
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• 2004

The obstructive sleep apnea syndrome can occur due to various etiologies in children. In otherwise healthy children, adenotonsillar hypertrophy is the leading cause of childhood obstuctive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea caused by adenotonsillar hypertrophy can lead to a variety of symptoms and sequelae such as behavioral disturbance, enuresis, failure to thrive, developmental delay, cor pulmonale, and hypertension. So if obstructive sleep apnea is clinically suspected, proper treatment should be administered to the patient after diagnostic examinations. More than 80% improvement is seen in symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea caused by adenotonsillar hypertrophy in children after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. However, when it is impossible to treat the patient using surgical methods or residual symptoms remained after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, additional treatments such as weight control, sleep position change, and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), should be considered. This paper reports a case using weight control and Auto-PAP to control mild sleep apnea and snoring, which in long-term follow-up were not resolved after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy for severe obstructive sleep apnea.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.106-109
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• 2004

Adenotonsillar hypertrophy is the leading cause of childhood obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in childhood, however, can occur from various causes such as obesity or craniofacial abnormalities. Childhood obstructive sleep apnea syndrome can be accompanied by enuresis, parasomnias and behavior problems. For patients with the symptoms of snoring and apnea, obstructive sleep apnea should be suspected and diagnosed properly. In addition, the evaluation of complications and proper treatment are indispensable. When the cause of childhood obstructive sleep apnea is adenotonsillar hypertrophy, symptoms can be improved by surgical methods. If the cause is other than adenotonsillar hypertrophy, such as obesity, it should be treated with other therapeutic modalities, like nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP), weight reduction and modification of life style. This paper reports a case of nCPAP used to manage severe sleep apnea when it was not resolved after adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy. Differential diagnosis of narcolepsy in a case with excessive daytime sleepiness and reflections on accompanying enuresis and parasomnia were also described.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.1340-1345
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• 2002

Purpose : We studied the prevalence of snoring and its association with diseases, obesity and environmental factors, as well as sleep disturbance arising from snoring, in school-aged children. Methods : The survey was performed by a special questionnaire on 1,707 children at elementary schools from 1 to 30 July 2001 in Gwangju City. The prevalence of snoring, associated factors, and sleep disturbance were evaluated. Results : 266(16.5%) of the children snored at least once a week. 73(4.3%) of the children snored almost every day. Regarding the associated factors of snoring : There was a statistically significant difference between snoring and nonsnoring groups due to gender, obesity, sinusitis, tonsillar hypertrophy, bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis. Of them, male gender, tonsillar hypertrophy, and obesity were significant risk factors for development of snoring. Especially, the odds ratio increased to 1.048(CI, 1.004-1.659), 1.748(CI, 1.175-2.599), and 2.266(CI, 1.300-3.950) in children with an obesity index of 20-29%, 30-49%, ${\geq}50%$, respectively. There was a statistically significant association of snoring with decreased sleep duration, sleep talking, and drowsiness during the day as a result of sleep disturbance. Conclusion : 16.5% of school-aged children snored at least once a week. The association of snoring with tonsillar hypertrophy, obesity and gender as risk factors was demonstrated in this study.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.369-381
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• 2019

The aim of this study was to analyze the changes and improvements in symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) using semi-rapid maxillary expansion (SRME) in children with narrow maxilla and SDB symptoms. Subjects were 15 patients with sleep disorder (apnea-hypopnea index, AHI ≥ 1) and narrow maxillary arch between 7 and 9 years of age. Before the SRME was applied, all subjects underwent pediatric sleep questionnaires (PSQ), lateral cephalometry, and portable sleep monitoring before expansion (T0). All subjects were treated with SRME for 2 months, followed by maintenance for the next 3 months. All subjects had undergone PSQ, lateral cephalometry, and portable sleep monitoring after expansion (T1). Adenoidal-nasopharyngeal ratio (ANR), upper airway width and hyoid bone position were measured by lateral cephalometry. The data before and after SRME were statistically analyzed with frequency analysis and Wilcoxon signed rank test. As reported by PSQ, the total PSQ scale was declined significantly from 0.45 (T0) to 0.18 (T1) (p = 0.001). Particularly, snoring, breathing, and inattention hyperactivity were significantly improved (p = 0.001). ANR significantly decreased from 0.63 (T0) to 0.51 (T1) (p = 0.003). After maxillary expansion, only palatopharyngeal airway width was significantly increased (p = 0.035). There was no statistically significant difference in position of hyoid bone after expansion (p = 0.333). From analysis of portable sleep monitoring, changes in sleep characteristics showed a statistically significant decrease in AHI and ODI, and the lowest oxygen desaturation was significantly increased after SRME (p = 0.001, 0.004, 0.023). In conclusion, early diagnosis with questionnaires and portable sleep monitoring is important. Treatment using SRME will improve breathing of children with SDB.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.115-128
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• 1995

Present study reviewed various standardized neuropsychological assessment methods for children that are widely used in Korean child-psychiatric clinic settings to evaluate neurological problems, especially soft neurological signs that could not be identified by neurological techniques like CT, MRI. The characteristics of those neuropsychological test responses in children with psychiatric disorders that neurological factors are thought to play more important role than psychological factors in their etiology were examined. It is more important and required to establish the developmental norms for interpreting the results of neuropsychological tests and for identifying the signs of brain damage in case of children than adults. There are many difficulties in diagnosing brain dysfunction and conducting research for neurological problems in psychiatric disordered children due to lack of the standardized Korean version of neuropsyhological test for children, Therefore, several issues on developing the Korean version of neuropsyhological tests for children were discussed.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.377-388
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• 2020

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between various predicting tools and Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) to identify children with sleep disordered breathing (SDB). From 5 to 10 years old who came for orthodontic counseling, 61 children, whom had lateral cephalograms, pediatric sleep questionnaire (PSQ) records, and portable sleep monitoring results, were included in this study. A total of 17 measurements (11 distances and 6 angles) were made on lateral cephalograms. The measurements of lateral cephalograms, PSQ scales and portable sleep monitoring results were statistically analyzed. 49 of 61 (80%) patients showed AHI > 1, which suspected to have SDB and their mean AHI was 2.75. In this study, adenoid size (A/N ratio), position of the hyoid bone from mandibular plane, gonial angle, and PSQ scale were related to a higher risk of pediatric SDB. Also, oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and snoring time from sleep monitoring results were statistically significant in children with SDB using Mann-Whitney test (p < 0.05). In conclusion, evaluation of hyoid bone position, adenoidal hypertrophy, gonial angle in lateral cephalogram, and PSQ scale was important to screen out potential SDB, especially in children with frequent snoring.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2020

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which narrowing and obstruction of the upper airway lead to frequent arousal and decreased arterial oxygenation during sleep. OSA is more common in children with genetic disorders like achondroplasia compared to children without genetic disorders. Achondroplasia is genetic disorder characterized by hypoplasia of the facial bone and skull base with foramen magnum stenosis, resulting in exceedingly high frequency of OSA. The authors present a case of a patient with achondroplasia diagnosed with severe OSA through polysomnography after adenectomy showed little therapeutic effect and who was treated with continuous positive airway pressure.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.97-104
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• 2015

Sleep is not only an essential physiological function, but also serves important roles in promoting growth, maturation, and overall health of humans. There is increasing interest regarding the impact of sleep and its disorders on the regulation of inflammatory processes and end-organ morbidities, particularly in the context of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and their complications. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is an increasingly common health problem in children. In the last decade, the emergence of increasing obesity rates has further led to remarkable increases in the prevalence of OSAS, along with more prominent neurocognitive, behavioral, cardiovascular and metabolic morbidities. Although the underlying mechanisms leading to OSAS-induced morbidities are likely multifactorial and remain to be fully elucidated, activation of inflammatory pathways by OSAS has emerged as an important pathophysiological component of the end-organ injury associated with this disorder. To this effect, it would appear that OSAS could be viewed as a chronic, low-grade inflammatory disorder. Furthermore, the concurrent presence of obesity and OSAS poses a theoretically increased risk of OSAS-related complications. In this study, we will critically review the current state of research regarding the impact of insufficient and disrupted sleep and OSAS on the immune processes and inflammatory pathways that underlie childhood OSAS as a distinctive systemic inflammatory condition in children, and will explore potential interactions between OSAS and obesity.