Newborns who receive surgery for a severe form of spina bifida are more likely to suffer from breathing disruptions during sleep than previously known.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
Early sleep-disordered breathing: More than half of newborns with surgically repaired myelomeningocele showed undetected breathing problems during sleep, revealing that these issues begin much earlier than previously recognized.
Potential for cognitive improvement: Identifying and treating sleep-related breathing disorders in infancy may help protect brain development and reduce long-term cognitive and behavioral difficulties in children with spina bifida.
Importance of early screening: Comprehensive, multidisciplinary sleep studies before hospital discharge can uncover hidden risks and enable timely interventions…