Surgery Resolves Limb Movements in Pediatric Sleep Apnea
Periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS) were found to be common in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), with age and severity of OSA influencing its prevalence. In most cases, adenotonsillectomy effectively resolved PLMS.
METHODOLOGY:
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the prevalence of PLMS in children with OSA and assess the effect of adenotonsillectomy on these movements.
They enrolled 1159 children (median age, 5 years; 58.3% boys) with OSA who underwent adenotonsillectomy between January 2022 and July 2023 at a tertiary care children's hospital.
The severity of OSA was categorized using the obstructive apnea-hypopnea index as mild (1-4 events per hour), moderate (5-9 events per hour), or severe (10 or more events per hour).
Elevated periodic limb movement index (PLMI) was measured as PLMS per hour before and after adenotonsillectomy, with an elevated PLMI defined as more than 5 events per hour.
TAKEAWAY:
Children older than 5 years had a higher prevalence of an elevated PLMI than those younger than 5 years (odds ratio, 0.3; P < .001).
The odds of elevated PLMI were 2.3 times higher in children with moderate OSA (P = .007) and 1.9 times higher in those with severe OSA (P = .01) than in those with mild OSA.
The PLMI significantly reduced after adenotonsillectomy (11.9 vs 2.9; P ≤ .001). Among 54 children with an elevated PLMI who underwent follow-up polysomnography, 85% showed resolution after adenotonsillectomy.
Children with residual OSA had a higher PLMI than those without residual OSA (P = .04).
IN PRACTICE:
'The potential clinical implications of our findings are the consideration of AT [adenotonsillectomy] for the initial management of children with OSA and elevated PLMI and counseling caregivers regarding the treatment of elevated PLMI,' the authors of the study wrote.
SOURCE:
This study was led by Amor Niksic, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. It was published online on June 07, 2025, in The Laryngoscope.
LIMITATIONS:
The retrospective study design limited data collection on sleep characteristics, patient symptoms, the impact of adenotonsillectomy on symptoms, and serum ferritin levels. Additionally, the small number of children who underwent polysomnography before and after adenotonsillectomy may have affected the detection of differences in subgroup analyses.
DISCLOSURES:
The authors reported receiving no specific funding for this work and reported having no conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
17 minutes ago
- New York Times
Franklin W. Stahl, 95, Dies; Helped Create a ‘Beautiful' DNA Experiment
Franklin W. Stahl, a molecular biologist who helped create a methodology to confirm how DNA replicates that was so elegant it has been remembered for more than five decades as 'the most beautiful experiment in biology,' died on April 2 at his home in Eugene, Ore. He was 95. The cause was congestive heart failure, his son Andy Stahl said. His death was not widely reported at the time, and there was no announcement about it from the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he was a professor and researcher. At his death, Dr. Stahl was an emeritus professor of molecular biology and genetics at the university's Institute of Molecular Biology. He had been at the university since 1959. Dr. Stahl's name and that of his collaborator, Matthew Meselson, were immortalized by the Meselson-Stahl Experiment, which is referenced in biology textbooks and taught in molecular genetics courses worldwide. In 2015, 'Helix Spirals,' a musical tribute to the experiment, was composed by Augusta Read Thomas and performed by a string quartet in Boston. The two biologists proved a theory advanced by the Nobel Prize winners James Watson and Francis Crick, who discovered DNA's helical structure in 1953. Watson and Crick posited in the journal Nature that DNA replicates in a so-called semi-conservative fashion. In 1958, Dr. Meselson and Dr. Stahl, postdoctoral fellows in Linus Pauling's laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., proved that Watson and Crick were correct, by using an experiment that was celebrated for its design, execution and results. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. promoted a food company he says will make Americans healthy. Their meals are ultraprocessed
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday praised a company that makes $7-a-pop meals that are delivered directly to the homes of Medicaid and Medicare enrollees. He even thanked Mom's Meals for sending taxpayer-funded meals 'without additives" to the homes of sick or elderly Americans. The spreads include chicken bacon ranch pasta for dinner and French toast sticks with fruit or ham patties. 'This is really one of the solutions for making our country healthy again,' Kennedy said in the video, posted to his official health secretary account, after he toured the company's Oklahoma facility last week. But an Associated Press review of Mom's Meals menu, including the ingredients and nutrition labels, shows that the company's offerings are the type of heat-and-eat, ultraprocessed foods that Kennedy routinely criticizes for making people sick. The meals contain chemical additives that would render them impossible to recreate at home in your kitchen, said Marion Nestle, a nutritionist at New York University and food policy expert, who reviewed the menu for The AP. Many menu items are high in sodium, and some are high in sugar or saturated fats, she said. 'It is perfectly possible to make meals like this with real foods and no ultra-processing additives but every one of the meals I looked at is loaded with such additives,' Nestle said. 'What's so sad is that they don't have to be this way. Other companies are able to produce much better products, but of course they cost more.' Mom's Meals do not have the artificial, petroleum dyes that Kennedy has pressured companies to remove from products, she noted. Mom's Meals said in an emailed response that its food products 'do not include ingredients that are commonly found in ultra-processed foods.' The company does not use synthetic food dyes, high fructose corn syrup, certain sweeteners or synthetic preservatives that are banned in Europe, said Teresa Roof, a company spokeswoman. The meals are a 'healthy alternative' to what many people would find in their grocery stores, said Andrew Nixon, U.S. Health and Human Services spokesman, in response to questions about Mom's Meals. Mom's Meals is one of several companies across the U.S. that deliver 'medically tailored' at-home meals. The meal programs are covered by Medicaid for some enrollees, including people who are sick with cancer or diabetes, as well as some older Americans who are enrolled in certain Medicare health insurance plans. Patients recently discharged from the hospital can also have the meals delivered, according to the company's website. It's unclear how much federal taxpayers spend on providing meals through Medicaid and Medicare every year. An investigation by STAT news last year found that some states were spending millions of dollars to provide medically tailored meals to Medicaid enrollees that were marketed as healthy and 'dietician approved." But many companies served up meals loaded with salt, fat or sugar — all staples of an unhealthy American's diet, the report concluded. Defining ultraprocessed foods can be tricky. Most U.S. foods are processed, whether it's by freezing, grinding, fermentation, pasteurization or other means. Foods created through industrial processes and with ingredients such as additives, colors and preservatives that you couldn't duplicate in a home kitchen are considered the most processed. Kennedy has said healthier U.S. diets are key to his vision to 'Make America Healthy Again.' His call for Americans to increase whole foods in their diets has helped Kennedy build his unique coalition of Trump loyalists and suburban moms who have branded themselves as 'MAHA." In a recent social media post where he criticized the vast amount of ultraprocessed foods in American diets, Kennedy urged Americans to make healthier choices. 'This country has lost the most basic of all freedoms — the freedom that comes from being healthy," Kennedy said. — Aleccia reported from Temecula, Calif.
CNN
41 minutes ago
- CNN
Camp Mystic girls evacuate from flood devastation
Camp Mystic girls evacuate from flood devastation Videos shared from a Camp Mystic nurse show campers evacuating on a bus while passing devastation from the floods along the Guadalupe River in Texas. 00:49 - Source: CNN Vertical Top News 15 videos Camp Mystic girls evacuate from flood devastation Videos shared from a Camp Mystic nurse show campers evacuating on a bus while passing devastation from the floods along the Guadalupe River in Texas. 00:49 - Source: CNN City official pressed on why they didn't evacuate before flooding CNN's Pamela Brown asked Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice why evacuations weren't ordered before devastating floods hit central Texas. 01:09 - Source: CNN Volunteers comb through debris as search for missing continues CNN's Isabel Rosales is in Center Point, Texas, about 25 miles from Camp Mystic, where volunteers are bringing in heavy machinery to search for victims after deadly flooding struck the area on July 4th. 01:13 - Source: CNN Camp Mystic confirms 27 campers and counselors have died in floods Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp along the Guadalupe River, has confirmed that at least 27 campers and counselors died in the devastating floods that hit the Texas camp. CNN's Pamela Brown reports. 01:09 - Source: CNN Chantal triggers life-threatening flash floods More than 5 million people were under flood alerts across North Carolina and Virginia after Chantal made landfall early Sunday, damaging properties and prompting rescue efforts. 00:42 - Source: CNN Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano erupts Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted in Indonesia, sending a column of ash as high as 11 miles into the sky. 00:38 - Source: CNN Dr. Gupta discusses US measles cases surpassing 25-year-high More measles cases have been reported in the US this year than in any year since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains why a slight dip in vaccination rates in certain regions has led to an ongoing outbreak. 01:08 - Source: CNN How floods in Texas turned deadly CNN's Ed Lavandera reports on the ground in Texas after months-worth of torrential rain triggered deadly floods. How did the devastation unfold? 00:42 - Source: CNN Pamela Brown reports from Camp Mystic, where she went as a child CNN anchor Pamela Brown was a camper at Camp Mystic 30 years ago, so she knows firsthand that it has been 'a magical place' for generations of girls. Today, she is back there, covering the aftermath of the flood tragedy. 00:57 - Source: CNN Mangled debris shows force of Texas flash floods Barbed wire and mangled trees among the debris scattered for miles, search and rescue workers in Texas face the grueling, slow challenge of holding out hope for any survivors or remains following Friday's flash floods. CNN's Isabel Rosales is in Center Point to give a first-hand look at the challenges volunteers are facing. 00:59 - Source: CNN Group of friends search for survivors Search efforts are underway in Hunt, Texas, to find survivors outside of Camp Mystic. Brooks Holzhausen, with the volunteer group 300 Justice, spoke to CNN detailing the collaboration with state and local law enforcement to help bring missing people home. 01:05 - Source: CNN Timelapse video shows speed of floodwater rising in Texas A timelapse video captured on Friday shows how quickly floodwaters rose along the Llano River in Kingsland, Texas – a town about 95 miles northeast of Camp Mystic. The video, which was sped up, shows the water rush in and rise along the river in the span of 30 minutes. 00:31 - Source: CNN Man describes escaping Airbnb during Texas flash flooding Ricky Gonzalez and a dozen friends were staying at an Airbnb when one of them were awoken by their dog pawing at the door. When they opened the curtain, one of their vehicles was already being swept away. 01:16 - Source: CNN See flood aftermath at Camp Mystic in Texas Authorities are still racing to find victims in central Texas, including 27 people from Camp Mystic, a girls summer camp in Kerr County, where the Guadalupe River rose more than 20 feet in less than two hours during torrential rains that triggered flash flooding in parts of the state. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports. 00:57 - Source: CNN Protests continue in Israel amid ceasefire negotiations As mediators push for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, protesters in Tel Aviv gathered in Hostages Square to demand a "complete deal" for the return of all hostages, along with a ceasefire. 00:48 - Source: CNN
