We only need to look around us to see that we are in an epidemic of obesity and obesity-related medical problems. The obesity hypoventilation syndrome is a disorder in which an obese person with normal lungs chronically hypoventilates. Obesity impairs ventilatory mechanics, increases the work of breathing and carbon dioxide production, results in respiratory muscle dysfunction, and reduces vent...

A 14-year old girl with Rett syndrome was studied. The patient had roncopathy, sleepiness, decreased activity and performance, corrected kyphoscoliosis, obesity, retrognathia, ojival palate and dental malocclusion. Nocturnal polysomnography (PSG) showed a moderate obstructive and apparently central sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) with associated hypoventilation, corrected by continuous pos...

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome are two similar diseases. Obstructive Sleep Apnea has been receiving more and more attention while the diagnostic rate of Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome is not high. Few studies directly evaluated the relationship between them. We systematically analyzed the relevance of the two diseases. MEDLINE®, EMBASE® and the Cochrane Library w...