Abstract 1484

Purpose: Although the use of documented home apnea monitors for premature infants continues to be a common practice, the indications for their use remain unclear. Many physicians rely on a pre-discharge pneumocardiogram to determine whether to discharge premature infants on apnea monitors. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a normal pre-discharge 24 hour pneumocardiogram in predicting apnea and/or bradycardia in the first month after discharge in infants born < 34 weeks gestation. Methods: Charts were reviewed from all infants <34 weeks gestation (n=79) who had normal pre-discharge pneumocardiograms and were discharged on documented apnea monitors secondary to gestational age. Charts were reviewed from two separate apnea programs (NYU and TJUH) over a 15 month period. All downloads in the first month after discharge were analyzed. An abnormal download was defined as any download revealing an apnea of >20 seconds or apnea <20 seconds associated with significant heart rate decelerations (>25%). Downloads with isolated bradycardias of < 80 BPM for more than 5 seconds were also considered abnormal. Statistical analysis was performed by using the student t-test for independent variables. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. (Table)

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