Sleep medicine
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Sleep-disordered breathing in children is most prevalent in the pre-school years and has been associated with sleep fragmentation and hypoxia. We aimed to compare the sleep and spontaneous arousal characteristics of 3-5-year-old children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) with that of non-snoring control children, and to further characterise the arousal responses to obstructive respiratory events. ⋯ These findings suggest that in pre-school children OSA has a profound effect on sleep and arousal patterns. Given that these children are at a critical period for brain development, the impact of OSA may have more severe consequences than in older children.