neonatal apnoea
Last reviewed 01/2018
Neonatal apnoeas are episodes when an infant fails to make any respiratory effort.
They are defined thus:
- no respiratory efforts for a period of more than 20 sec
- a break in respiration of less than 20 sec but associated with bradycardia - a reduction in heart rate of more than 30%
The frequency of apnoeic episodes is closely related to the degree of prematurity.