Central alveolar hypoventilation and sleep. Treatment by intermittent positive-pressure ventilation through nasal mask in an adult.

Idiopathic central alveolar hypoventilation, uncommonly seen in middle-aged adults, has often been treated by tracheostomy and assisted ventilation during sleep or by implantation of a diaphragmatic pacemaker with or without tracheostomy. We report the successful treatment of a middle-aged man by the easy application of intermittent positive-pressure ventilation through a nose mask.