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Information not intended as medical advice.

Re: Diagnosis of Central Apnea


Posted by sleepyrick on March 22, 1998 at 15:10:00:

In Reply to: Re: Diagnosis of Central Apnea posted by Mark Biegert on March 21, 1998 at 05:13:18:

Get as second opinion if you like, but your doctor should be able to decide with you if it is really necessary to go as far as the balloon monitoring.

Esophageal balloon is the "gold standard" of sleep study respiratory effort monitoring, and is not employed at very many sleep centers. Most use the belts you speak of, which have advantages in comfort, cost, and ease of use, but are not as accurate as balloon monitoring. Belts overreport central apnea as opposed to balloons, so if you REALLY need to know before treatment is chosen, you need balloon monitors. Treatment sometimes is THE SAME for central and obstructive, so CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR AND FOLLOW THEIR ADVICE.

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