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F Cirignotta

Publications and source records attributed to F Cirignotta.

96 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Staging of heavy snorers' disease. A proposal.

The passage from trivial snoring to heavy snorer's disease or obstructive apnea syndrome is a subtle and gradual process. The suspect clinical signs of this process are primarily the onset of intermittent snoring and daytime sleepiness. We propose a diagnostic assessment based on objective monitoring of respiratory behaviour (noise of snoring, endothoracic pressure, SaO2) during sleep and the tendency to daytime drowsiness (by means of the so-called multiple sleep latency test, MSLT). These parameters establish not only the presence of a disease state, but also give a fairly accurate indication of the different stages of the disease. The nocturnal respiratory pattern emerging from this objective assessment can be divided into four stages: stage 0 (or preclinical), with sporadic obstructive apneas; stage I (or initial), with obstructive apneas persisting during light (st. 1-2) and REM sleep; stage II (or overt), with obstructive apneas persisting for the whole length of sleep; stage III (or complicated), with alveolar hypoventilation persisting during wakefulness. In stage 0, episodes of O2 desaturation are sporadically present and linked to obstructive apneas or hypopneas. In stages I-II, phasic desaturations are correlated with the apneas. In stage II and above all stage III, phasic desaturation is associated with persistent falls of Sao2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A polygraphic study of one case of primary alveolar hypoventilation (Ondine's curse).

We report here on a case of primary alveolar hypoventilation in a 9 yr old child. From the age of 8 years, the patient has suffered from episodes of bronchopneumonia associated with severe respiratory insufficiency and lethargy. After recovery, cyanosis developed during the night and, later on, during the day. On two occasions, serious respiratory depression followed ketamine sedation for cardiac catheterization and total anaesthesia for cerebral angiography. Pulmonary function tests showed normal volumes and normal mechanics of breathing; blood gas analysis revealed a slight hypercapnic acidosis and hypoxia. The ventilatory response to CO2 was virtually absent, whereas voluntary hyperventilation normalized blood gas values. A polygraphic recording during sleep showed a marked worsening of hypoventilation, which occurred soon after falling asleep and continued throughout all sleep stages; sporadic central apnoeas, at times prolonged, were recorded only during light sleep. The patient, now 14 yr old, is maintained in satisfactory condition with low flow nocturnal oxygen administration combined with the use of a body respirator during sleep twice a week.

Child↗