Sleep-related breathing disorders.

Disorders of breathing related to sleep are relatively newly recognized and less than fully understood. This review presents the terminology used to describe them, and describes the physiology of sleep and of control of ventilation, the pathophysiology of breathing disorders during sleep, their various clinical manifestations, current diagnostic techniques, and the treatment modalities available at present. Among the diagnostic approaches discussed are airway fluoroscopy during sleep, pneumography, and polysomnography. Approaches to medical and surgical management of these disorders are reviewed. Speculation regarding the underestimation of the prevalence of these disorders, the male predominance, and their relationship to snoring, coronary artery disease, and hypertension, which also show male predominance, are presented. Also suggested is a relationship of sleep apnea, obesity, and mental retardation in childhood-onset or congenital disorders such as Down's syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome, and in other endocrine dysfunction diseases.