Sleep apnea syndrome: clinical features and treatment

The sleep apnea syndrome is a relatively unappreciated but by no means rare cause of nocturnal hypercapnia and hypoxemia that sometimes persist into the waking hours. The authors describe their experience in diagnosing and treating this disease in seven patients who were characteristically overweight, tended to snore, and had daytime somnolence, intellectual deterioration and elevated hematocrits.