We are reporting a case of a 29 year-old female with diagnosis of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (Steinert's disease) with excessive daytime sleepiness, muscle fatigue, snoring, frequent arousals, non-restorative sleep, and witnessed apneas. Pulmonary function tests revealed a mild decrease of forced vital capacity. Nocturnal polysomnography showed an increase of apnea/hypopnea index (85.9 events/h)...

To determine the effects of intermittent hypoxemia on daytime sleepiness in the clinical setting of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, we enrolled seven patients in a prospective, randomized, crossover study. We had two experimental conditions with NCPAP treatment as follow: (1) to correct apneas, sleep fragmentation, and hypoxemia; and (2) to correct apneas and sleep fragmentation and at the sa...

Lethal influenza A (H5N1) induces respiratory failure in humans. Although it also causes death at 7 days postinfection (dpi) in mice, the development of the respiratory failure and the viral impact on pre-Botzinger complex (PBC) neurons expressing neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R), which is the respiratory rhythm generator, have not been explored. Body temperature, weight, ventilation, and arterial ...

Hypopneas or pauses in respiratory effort frequently precede episodes of obstructive sleep apnea resulting in mixed apneas. We studied five subjects after chronic tracheostomy for obstructive sleep apnea. During stable non-REM (NREM) sleep, subjects breathed entirely through the tracheostomy. Tracheostomy occlusion caused experimental obstructive apnea which lasted 13.9 +/- 4.7 sec and ended wi...

Epilepsy and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are two relatively common disorders known to coexist and potentially exacerbate each other. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a currently used, adjunctive treatment for partial epilepsy and is generally well tolerated with few associated side effects. Some of the more common side effects include hoarseness of voice, laryngeal irritation and cough, espec...

Masticatory and tongue muscle activity was examined polysomnographically in 14 patients with sleep apnea syndrome and six snorers. The all-night polysomnographic recordings included electromyograms (EMG) of the genioglossal, the masseter and the inferior head of the lateral pterygoid muscles, nasal airflow and thoracoabdominal respiratory effort. The apneas were defined and classified into thre...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of negative pressure ventilation (NPV) in avoiding or reducing apneas and related hypoxemia and respiratory acidosis during laser therapy (LT) of endobronchial lesions. DESIGN A prospective, controlled, randomized study. SETTING An operating theater of a respiratory endoscopy and laser therapy unit. POPULATION AND INTERVENTION: Twenty-seven consecuti...

BACKGROUND Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) is a rare disorder affecting central control of breathing. Thus, patients require lifelong assisted ventilation. Diaphragm pacing (DP) may permit decannulation in those who are ventilator dependent only during sleep. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to determine if patients with CCHS can be successfully ventilated by DP witho...