The sleep disorders service sees referrals for adult and pediatric patients with conditions or symptoms that include:
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Periodic limb movements in sleep
- Parasomnias (undesired body movements associated with sleep)
- Seizures in sleep
- Narcolepsy
Formal sleep studies routinely include:
- Polysomnography, which is a non-invasive, all night monitoring of a patient's sleep. Variables routinely monitored are EEG (brain waves), EOG (eye-movements), and chin EMG (muscle activity), for sleep staging, and ECG, nasal and oral airflow, respiratory effort, and oxygen saturation to address sleep related breathing disorders, and EMG of the limbs to monitor for abnormal body movements such as periodic limb movements.
- Multiple sleep latency testing evaluates patients with suspected narcolepsy and to objectively study patients who complain of daytime hypersomnolence. This assesses sleep tendency by measuring the number of minutes it takes the patient to fall asleep.
Treatments include:
- Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), which is the most widely used treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. CPAP provides a gentle flow of positive pressure air that holds the airway open during sleep.
- Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure (Bi-Level PAP), which also delivers a positive pressure flow but with differing inspiratory and expiratory pressures. Bi-level PAP is most commonly indicated for patients with obesity-hypoventilation syndrome, COPD, CHF, a variety of neuromuscular disorders and those that are intolerant of CPAP therapy.