Newborn Studies

Intermittent Hypoxia Studies

Throughout the years, the American SIDS Institute has been involved in projects to learn more about the underlying medical vulnerabilities that make an infant more likely to die suddenly. Several studies have focused on infants’ abilities to control heart rate and breathing and on what causes these mechanisms to sometimes break down. Preterm infants commonly have breathing instability, and this can teach us a lot about the resulting problems and successful treatment. Therefore, we often partner with neonatologists to study infants in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).

A recent series of studies have looked at intermittent hypoxia. This occurs when an infant’s irregular breathing patterns cause dips in his oxygen levels. These up and down fluctuations are not clinically apparent and can only be measured by continuous recordings of oxygen blood levels using pulse oximeters. I intermittent hypoxia is known to be pro-inflammatory and appears to have long term adverse consequences, including neuro-developmental changes. Intermittent hypoxia is also very common in children and adults with sleep apnea and there is evidence that even modest amounts of intermittent hypoxia lead to impairments in cognitive performance. Caffeine is commonly used in the early weeks of care of premature infants to treat symptoms related to immature breathing regulation, which also reduces the frequency of intermittent hypoxia.

Phase 1 – Intermittent Hypoxia and Extended Caffeine Treatment

Under the direction of one of our board members, Dr. Carl Hunt, who is at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), we have completed a study of preterm babies in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Participating in the study were 16 hospital NICUs, a data coordinating center at Boston University, USUHS and the American SIDS Institute. The Institute provided funding assistance and our executive director, Dr. Betty McEntire, served as the project director. The results of this study were published in JAMA Pediatrics.

For this first study, we hypothesized that intermittent hypoxia is still occurring even after the immature breathing was no longer apparent, and that extended caffeine treatment could reduce intermittent hypoxia episodes. We randomly assigned caffeine-treated infants born at less than 32 weeks’ gestation to receive extended treatment with caffeine at a usual NICU dose or to usual care (n=53) once they had reached 34 to 37 weeks’ postmenstrual age (PMA). Infants underwent continuous oxygen saturation (pulse oximeter) monitoring until they had been home for at least one week and had reached at least 40 weeks’ PMA. At 35 weeks’ PMA, control infants spent an average of 106 seconds per hour (s/h) with oxygen saturation (SaO2) levels below 90%; at 36 weeks’ PMA, time spent below 90% SaO2 fell to 100 s/h. Among the infants in the extended caffeine group, time spent below 90% SaO2 was 51 s/h at 35 weeks and 49 s/h at 36 weeks. However, there was no significant reduction in IH with extended caffeine use after 36 weeks.

The lack of effect of caffeine after 36 weeks PMA likely occurred because infants metabolize caffeine more quickly as they mature, so a higher dose would be required than is routinely required at younger ages in the NICU. Also, a critical but unresolved question is whether reducing the extent of intermittent hypoxia by extending caffeine treatment to term-equivalent age has any long-term benefits, such as improved neurodevelopment, or has any associated risks.

Phase 2 – Intermittent Hypoxia and Caffeine Levels

The second phase of the study was designed to sort out what the right dose of caffeine is to reduce the intermittent hypoxia we now know is still occurring after 36 weeks PMA. We are therefore now conducting a randomized trial of 2 different higher doses of caffeine at 9 NICUs. In addition to recording the intermittent Hypoxia, infant samples are being obtained to measure the caffeine levels present in the body.

Phase 3 – Intermittent Hypoxia and Caffeine in Preterm Infants

In 2019 we begin enrolling patients in our NICHD-funded multicenter study on intermittent hypoxia in preterm infants. The 5-year project will lead to a better understanding of impaired respiratory control in preterm infants and the subsequent consequences.

In addition to the American SIDS Institute, partners in the study are:

  • AdventHealth Orlando (Orlando, FL)
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, MA)
  • Boston University (Boston, MA)
  • Children’s National Medical Center (Washington, DC)
  • Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH)
  • Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, NH)
  • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (St. Petersburg, FL)
  • Johns Hopkins Baltimore and Bayview Hospitals (Baltimore, MD)
  • Kapiolani Medical Center (Kapiolani, HA)
  • Loma Linda Univ. Health System (Loma Linda, CA)
  • Pennsylvania Hospital (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Texas Woman’s Hospital (Houston, TX)
  • UMass Medical Memorial Center (Worcester, MA)
  • Univ. of Kentucky Children’s Hospital (Lexington, KY)
  • Univ. of Mississippi Medical Center (Jackson, MS)
  • Univ. of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)
  • Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Bethesda, MD)

The primary focus on the study is to learn more about how infants control breathing and oxygen levels and what might improve this process. There are about 380,000 babies born prematurely each year in the US. These infants are at risk for many problems including immediate health issues along with long term developmental concerns. They also have higher infant mortality rates, including rates of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.