Performance of nasal prongs in sleep studies - Spectrum of flow-related events

Objectives: The use of nasal prongs connected to a pressure transducer is a noninvasive, sensitive method to detect respiratory events, and can be eas ily implemented in routine sleep studies. Moreover, its good time response allows the detection of several flow-related phenomena of high interest, in addition to apnea and hypopnea. The aims of the study were to examine the quality and performance of the nasal prong flow signal, and to describe oth er flow-related events during full-night polyomnography studies. Methods: Twenty-seven subjects were studied (16 male subjects; mean +/- SD age, 49 +/- 14 years; mean body mass index, 21 +/- 4 kg/m(2)): 15 subjects recruited from the general population and 12 consecutive patients with susp ected sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (SAHS). Results: A blind analysis of the respiratory events detected both by nasal prongs and thermistor was done. The quality of the nasal prong signal recor dings was considered optimal for scoring purposes in 78% of cases, and no r ecording was considered uninterpretable. The nasal prong signal detected ad ditional flow-related events not observed by the thermistor: (1) short and long (> 2 min) periods of inspiratory flow limitation morphology without de crease in the amplitude of the signal; (2) periods of mouth expiration; and (3) snoring. The apnea/hypopnea index was significantly higher with the na sal prong scoring (18 vs 11 [p < 0.05] in the general population and 37 vs 21 [p < 0.001] in the group with suspected SAHS). Conclusions: The incorporation of nasal prongs in routine full-night studie s is an attainable technical option that provides adequate recordings in mo st cases. Additionally, relevant information not scored by thermistors is o btained on flow-related respiratory events, thus increasing diagnostic accu racy.