[Physiopathology of sleep-disordered breathing in children].

Sleep-disordered breathing represents a broad spectrum of alterations, ranging from habitual snoring, through obstructive hypoventilation to obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome, and produces breathing and architecture anomalies during sleep. There are some controversies on the physiopathological mechanisms of sleep-disordered breathing and its metabolic, neurocognitive and cardiovascular effects. The causes of comorbidity in obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in children are not yet well known and can include blood gasometric anomalies, fragmented sleep, and local and systemic inflammation, modulated by genetic, environmental and ethnic factors.

[Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in children].

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is a well-known clinical entity in adults but until now it has been less well studied in children. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the recognition of sleep disorders in children. Our goal is to analyze scientific data published in the last few years.

[Some differential considerations of OSAS in adults and children].

Some respiratory troubles on childhood keep, comparatively with the same adult's pathology, certain peculiarities worth to know. This is the case of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, which can suffer both children and adults, but with important etiopathogenical differences: clinical, and therapeutical between the two ages groups, which we must have in mind. Report of differential considerations between the 2 age-groups that we consider more relevants in this syndrome, that every time is more and more seen in clinical practice.