抄録
A 28-year-old female was admitted to our hospital complaining of dyspnea, periodic breathing and extreme obesity.
In order to clarify the physio-pathological mechanism of her daytime somnolence and periodic breathing, polygraphic recordings of her nocturnal sleep were carried out. During sleep an obstructive type apnea was recorded, in which thoracic and abdominal movements persisted while air flow was absent at nose. Her sleep was very unstable, not accompanied by stage 4 sleep.
The second polygraphic recordings were performed after her body weight was reduced. The breathing during sleep became regular but the frequency of apnea increased slightly. Stage 4 sleep appeared and the sleep pattern was almost normalized.
It is concluded that her daytime somnolence is compensating for sleep disturbance in the night. The pathogenesis of sleep disturbance is due to the obstruction of upper airway tract, which causes the periodic breathing and makes her nocturnal sleep unstable.
