Daniel's story: congenital central hypoventilation syndrome

Central hypoventilation syndrome (CHS) is a disorder characterized by little or no ventilatory or arousal sensitivity to hypercapnia and variable reactivity to hypoxemia, with little or no hypoxic arousal responsiveness. CHS may be congenital or acquired and can be idiopathic or secondary to a known central nervous system abnormality. Infants often present with life-threatening apnea during quiet sleep and develop severe respiratory acidosis because of the inadequate response to hypercapnia and hypoxia. Long-term treatment usually involves use of mechanical ventilation during sleep.