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Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159:299-300.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Reports since the 1980s identify a causal connection between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and childhood failure to thrive (FTT).^1-2 For most children, adenotonsillar hypertrophy is the primary factor leading to SDB; adenotonsillectomy is curative in the vast majority of these cases.³ Otherwise healthy children with FTT show significant catch-up growth following adenotonsillar surgery.^1-2,4 The American Academy of Pediatrics (Elk Grove Village, Ill) identifies FTT as among the most serious complications of untreated obstructive sleep apnea.³

There are multiple biologically plausible pathways from SDB to FTT. First, overnight monitoring studies find increased caloric expenditure among children with SDB owing to labored breathing.⁵ Second, the circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 among children with SDB who underwent adenotonsillar surgery have been measured.^{2, 4} These data suggest that SDB interferes with nocturnal growth-hormone secretion. In addition, SDB is known to cause neurological dysfunction, which can result in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Karen A. Bonuck, PhD