A pause between breaths in a respiratory cycle, usually lasting between 3 and 40 seconds, and due to obstructions to nasal, oral or tracheal passageways, or by malfunctioning of the brain stem itself. Thus, there are three types of apnea: central apnea (the cessation of both airflow and respiratory effort), obstructive apnea (the cessation of airflow in the presence of continued respiratory effort, and apparently first described by Charles Dickens in 1836), and mixed apnea that contains features of both central and obstructive apnea, either within the same apneic pause or at different times during a period of respiratory recording. It is the most common problem of ventilatory control in the preterm infants. Apnea of prematurity (AoP) is attributed to abnormal breathing control due neural immaturity of the brain stem. Its severity is inversely related to gestational age, and usually resolves itself between 34 to 36 weeks gestational age.
See Asphyxial death, Brain stem, Preterm infant, Respiratory distress syndrome, Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS, cot or crib death)