Because access to sleep recordings is limited, there is a need for new reliable tools for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) diagnosis. A score calculated from a 30 minutes-home sleep video recording (VR) has already been proposed in 1996 with interesting results. The main objective of this pilot study was to assess the reliability of a similar score applied to reference PSG VR and calculated on two different time windows (30 and 10 minutes).

A retrospective monocenter study was made on 16 children suspected of OSAHS, that underwent VR during overnight PSG. Video analysis was made during the second complete sleep cycle. A 30-minute risk score (RS30) and a 10-minute risk score (RS10) were established by analyzing seven parameters. The RS30 and RS10 were correlated with clinical examination data, a sleep questionnaire, the obstructive-apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI) and the oxygen desaturation index (ODI) from synchronized PSG results.

There was a significant correlation between both the RS30 and RS10, the OAHI and ODI. A RS30 ≥6.09 was predictive of an OAHI ≥5 per hour with a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 90%. A RS10 ≥6.50 was predictive of an OAHI ≥5 per hour with a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 100%.

A risk score based on PSG VR shows a good correlation with PSG results, confirming previous reports. Further work should focus on applying this risk score to home sleep VR for the diagnosis of pediatric OSAHS.