[Why and how to diagnose sleep respiratory disorders?]

Gas exchange abnormalities occur firstly during sleep in restrictive and obstructive chronic respiratory failure. Nocturnal hypoxemia is often a revealing feature of a sleep-related hypoventilation/hypoxemia syndrome in patients who will have later a diurnal hypoxemia. On the other hand, sleep may induce breathing abnormalities in individuals without lung diseases, like in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). In OSAS, repeated closure and/or narrowing of the pharynx during sleep increases the inspiratory effort and induces sleep fragmentation. Intermittent hypoxemia is another consequence of the obstructive events in OSAS. Besides its direct consequences on sleep, OSAS is also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbi-mortality. Reduced daytime alertness and cognitive functions are usually present in patients with sleep-disordered breathing. These features are believed to be related to both sleep fragmentation and nocturnal hypoxia/hypercapnia. Sleep-related hypoventilation/hypoxemia and pharyngeal obstructive events may occur together in patients with respiratory insufficiency, especially in obese and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) subjects. A correct qualitative and quantitative assessment of sleep-disordered breathing may only be performed by recording specific physiological signals during sleep.