CENTRAL SLEEP-APNEA SYNDROME WITH UPPER AIRWAY COLLAPSE

We report on an 83 yr old man with hypersomnia and central deep apnoea (CSA). He had several possible causes for CSA, including a central ne rvous system lesion, hypocapnia and anatomical narrowing of the airway at the hypopharyngeal level. We postulate that reduced central respir atory drive occurring in conjunction with upper airway narrowing may h ave led to central apnoeas. These in turn could have facilitated a com plete passive hypopharyngeal collapse at the end of each apnoea, as vi sualized by somnofluoroscopy. The CSA could also have been favoured by respiratory instability due to chronic hypocapnia.