Results
Between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2022, a total of 612 patients
were ventilated at our center. Among these, 67 patients met the
inclusion criterion for central apnea (cAHI >1). Patients
were categorized based on their diagnosis, and it was observed which
diagnoses exhibited the exclusively central apneas, predominantly
central apneas, and predominantly obstructive apneas phenotypes
(table 1 ). The diagnoses of these patients were as follows:
hypoxic - ischemic encephalopathy, 15 (22.39%); Ondine Syndrome, 14
(20.90%); multimalformation syndromes, 10 (14.93%); Prader-Willi
Syndrome, 8 (11.94%); brain tumor, 6 (8.96%); Down syndrome, 4
(5.97%); ROHHAD Syndrome, 2 (2.99%); Arnold-Chiari II, 1 (1.49%);
primary central apnea, 1 (1.49%); epilepsy, 1 (1.49%); lisosomal
diseases, 1 (1.49%); hydrocephalus, 1 (1.49%); myopathy, 1 (1.49%);
obesity, 1 (1.49%); Rett Syndrome, 1 (1.49%). It was also determined
which diagnoses led to ventilation initiation before the age of one and
which diagnoses occurred after (table 2 ). The ventilation mode
was analyzed based on the type of diagnosis, as shown in table 3:15 patients were managed using pressure-controlled ventilation, 45 with
pressure support, and 7 with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).
To assess the effectiveness of ventilation, the average cAHI at baseline
was calculated and compared to that after ventilation (table 4 )
and the p-value reflects the effectiveness. The reduction in average
cAHI was statistically significant (p<0.05) for the following
diagnostic categories: multimalformation syndromes, hypoxic-ischemic
encephalopathy, Prader-Willi Syndrome. The reduction in average cAHI was
not statistically significant (p>0.05) in the case of brain
tumors. The rest of the diagnoses exhibited a substantial decrease in
the mean cAHI value, but the numbers were not sufficient to apply
statistical comparisons. Table 5 represents the number of
patients based on their diagnosis who underwent non-invasive or invasive
ventilation. Summary of population averages is represented intable 6 .