Risk factors for extreme events in infants hospitalized for apparent life-threatening events.

Objective: To determine whether known risk factors for cardiorespiratory illnesses will help identify infants who could experience extreme events during an admission for an apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) or later at home.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study of all patients admitted for ALTE between 1996 and 2006. Extreme events included central apnea >30 seconds, bradycardia >10 seconds, and desaturation >10 seconds at hemoglobin-oxygen saturation value with pulse oximetry <80%.