[Chronic rhonchopathy or snoring. Clinical aspects and therapeutic indications]

Results of several surveys of variable complexity have provided confirmation that snoring is not only an overall sleep preventer but is mainly an unrecognized asphyxia. Comparison of groups of snorers and non-snorers, and evaluation of biologic and functional improvement following surgical treatment of snoring, have shown that this chronic nocturnal hypoxia is, with the snoring as such, the essential feature of a well individualized new disease for which the term chronic rhonchopathy is proposed. This affection is composed of different clinical aspects of several syndromes, notably the Pickwickian and sleep apnea syndromes. However, a latent form also exists in which snoring is the only symptom, as well as a decompensated form with multiple signs related to the underlying condition. Improvement follows suppression of the respiratory obstacle provoking snoring. The most frequent of these signs is drowsiness, particularly when driving, and is the one with the heaviest social consequences.