Sleep Study or Polysomnography

DEPARTMENT

DEPARTMENTS

A sleep study or polysomonography is gold standard diagnostic tool for sleep disordered breathing. Polysomnography records your brain waves, the oxygen level in your blood, heart rate and breathing, as well as eye and leg movements during the study. Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night’s sleep, you might have sleep apnea. The main types of sleep apnea are: Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax Central sleep apnea, which occurs when your brain doesn’t send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing Complex sleep apnea syndrome, also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, which occurs when someone has both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea

The Greek word “apnea” means “without breath”
When something partly or completely blocks your upper airway during SHUT-EYE
It is also defined as intermittent cessation of airflow at nose and mouth for at least 10 seconds during sleep
Hypopnea – 50% reduction in airflow with either a saturation drop of 3% or an arousal
Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) – Total number of apneas and hypopneas divided by number of hours of sleep
Obstructive Sleep Apnea – AHI > 5 with excessive daytime sleepiness.