[Comparative Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Caffeine and Aminophylline for the Treatment of Apnea in Preterm Infants]

Abstract

Methylxanthine is widely administered for the treatment of apnea of prematurity in many countries, and previous reports have clearly established that caffeine is effective for the treatment of apnea of prematurity. In Japan, caffeine has been available since December 2014. Thus, we compared the efficacy and safety of caffeine with that of aminophylline in our hospital. There was no significant difference between the caffeine group and aminophylline group regarding the characteristics of the study patients. The mean efficacy rate from day 1 to day 10 was 89.5% in the caffeine group, and 81.9% in the aminophylline group, although the rate of improvement in apnea episodes each day from day 1 to day 10 was not significantly different between the two groups. On the other hand, the adverse event rates in the caffeine group and the aminophylline group were 70.6% and 75.0%, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the adverse event rates between the two groups. Moreover, suspected abdominal distension due to the drug administration was more frequently observed with the aminophylline group. Our findings indicate that caffeine is as effective as aminophylline, while it is superior to aminophylline regarding its overall safety.

Keywords: aminophylline; apnea; caffeine; methylxanthine; preterm infant; theophylline.