Abstract
Hypoxia Challenge test (HCT) is the gold standard to predict the need for supplemental O2 during air travel. HCT has been validated in adults and older children but may not be suitable for infants born preterm.
Aim: To investigate the agreement between HCT and inflight hypoxia in preterm infants
Method: Preterm (<35 wk GA) aged 1-12m attended for HCT prior to air travel. Inflight, infants had SpO2 recorded and used supplemental O2 if SpO2 <85%. Post flight, oximeter data was analysed for SpO2 nadir. The agreement between HCT and inflight hypoxia was assessed with intra-class correlations and the influence of age on this agreement analysed using univariate logistic regression.
Results: 30 preterm infants of GA(median(range)) 29.1w ( 23.6-34.6) with a corrected age of 22.5w (-1.7 - 50.9) were studied. 28 preterm infants with matching HCT completed 50 flights. HCT failed to predict inflight O2 need in 36% of flights in preterm infants. In 28% of flights, the infant passed the HCT, but failed inflight and required supplemental O2, and in 8% of flights the infant failed the HCT but did not require O2 inflight. Inflight response in 5 of 16 preterm infants with multiple flights was inconsistent with O2 being required on some but not all flights. Corrected age at time of test did not influence inflight response in the preterm infants (OR 0.986; CI= 0.942, 1.032; p = 0.537).
Conclusion: In preterm infants, the HCT does not accurately predict inflight hypoxia. A false pass may put infants at risk of inflight desaturations when flying without supplemental O2 whereas a false fail leads to unneccesary use of supplemental O2. Further studies are needed to understand the physiological response to air travel in preterm infants.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2018 52: Suppl. 62, OA3590.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2018