APNEIC AND NON-APNEIC BREATHING DISORDERS IN SLEEP

  • 1 January 1982
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 18  (4) , 523-533
Abstract
Respiratory activities are stage dependent and some breathing disorders appear only in sleep. Sleep apnea syndromes, defined as the occurrence of at least 30 apneas of .gtoreq. 10 s, dramatically affect patients'' sleep and waking behavior. During 1977-1980, 114 patients with sleep apnea and 82 patients with nonapneic breathing disorders in sleep, were recorded in the Technion Sleep Laboratory. In both groups patients were mostly late in the 30-50 yr age group, whose primary complaint was excessive daytime sleepiness. Nonapneic breathing disorders in sleep included periodic breathing, periodic hyperpnea and variations in rate of breathing without notable changes in volume. Some of the patients with sleep apnea syndrome and with nonapneic breathing disorders in sleep mass belong to the same etiological group, each representing a different stage along a single continuum of breathing disorders.