Relationship between the Clinical Characteristics and Intervention Scores of Infants with Apparent Life-threatening Events

Choi, Hee Joung; Kim, Yeo Hyang

There was a recent history of fever in 2 patients, respiratory symptoms in 16, and both in 1. Ten patients did not have any specific history. Twenty-seven patients had an event at home. After the event, 12 patients visited an ED, and 17 patients visited an outpatient department (OPD). Twenty patients arrived at the hospital during the day, while 9 arrived at night. Eleven patients appeared normal upon their clinical examination at the time of arrival, whereas 2 patients required CPR during the initial ALTE and 4 were transferred from other hospitals while intubated. Other 12 patients showed sick appearance such as cyanosis, grunting, chest retraction and atonic posture. The predominant symptoms for ALTE diagnosis were apnea and color change in 20 (69.0%) and 19 (58.6%) patients, respectively (Table 2) . Change in muscle tone occurred in 9 (31.0%), choking in 6 (20.7%), and gagging in 3 (10.3%). The events occurred while sleeping in 5 and while awake in 24. Of the 24 patients, the events occurred during and after feeding in 4, and with crying in 3. In the other 17 patients, the specific situation associated with the event was not found in medical records.