Cardiorespiratory monitoring

Abstract

Documented monitoring has many actual or potential advantages compared to undocumented monitoring. Due to the occurrence of monitor alarms in virtually all monitored infants and the potential for undue parental concern or noncompliance when excessive false alarms do occur, documented monitoring needs to become the standard for home electronic surveillance. The increased cost should be more than offset by net reductions in total duration of home monitoring and will be minimized by the integration of the home monitor and event recording components. Documented monitoring will quantify the frequency, duration, and type of each true event, whether related to apnea, bradycardia, desaturation, or a combination thereof. The availability of routine documented monitoring including SaO2 will be of dramatic benefit in enhancing our understanding regarding the pathophysiology of apparent life-threatening events and sudden death, providing the clinician with a heretofore unavailable powerful diagnostic and therapeutic modality.