ABSTRACT

Though neuromuscular diseases (NMD) and thoracic cage disorders differ among them in terms of etiology, clinical manifestations and prognoses, in advanced stages those conditions are characterized by the development of respiratory insufficiency that often results in death. Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is frequent in patients with NMD, where they may appear independently or in association with an NMD per se. These conditions include obstructive apnea, central apnea, and alveolar hypoventilation. The purpose of this document is to describe the physiopathology of SDB in NMD patients, emphasizing the most common and deleterious of them, which is the sleep-related hypoventilation-hypoxemia syndrome. We believe that this information will be useful to clinical physicians by providing a better understanding of the respiratory complications that NMD patients suffer, and thereby sensitizing specialists to the importance of non-invasive mechanical ventilation.

KEYWORDS

Neuromuscular disease, sleep-disordered breathing, hypoventilation.

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