Treatment options may be limited for infants with obstructive sleep apnea when there is no surgically correctable upper airway lesion. We therefore evaluated, retrospectively, the efficacy of low-flow oxygen as a therapeutic option for infant obstructive sleep apnea. We reviewed the medical charts of 23 infants who had undergone a therapeutic trial of low-flow oxygen during polysomnography. Spl...

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are the most common diseases in industrialized societies. The main objectives of this article were to summarize the physiological effects of sleep apnea on the circulatory system and to review how treatment of this condition influences cardiovascular disease. Acute sleep apnea has a number of hemodynamic consequences, such as pulmonary and systemic hy...

Cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death in North America. To improve outcomes, it will likely be necessary to identify new potentially treatable conditions. Sleep apnea affects approximately 50% of patients with cardiovascular disease and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Continuous positive airway pressure is currently the treatment of choice and has many sho...

The relationship between asthma and sleep-disordered breathing is bidirectional due to common risk factors that promote airway inflammation. Obstructive sleep-disordered breathing and recurrent wheeze/asthma are conditions that involve the upper and the lower respiratory system, respectively. The aim of the present study was to investigate the sleep disordered breathing in children with recurre...

There is a close relationship among the types of sleep apnea (central, obstructive, and mixed) in regard to both the pathogenesis and in the clinical management of sleep apnea syndromes. This review will recount the rationale for the use of animal models in understanding intermediate traits, such as the ventilatory responses to hypoxia and reoxygenation, seen with human sleep apnea. One feature...