Topic reviewed by Waiz Wasey, MD, Board-certified sleep medicine physician
Def: Increased upper airway resistance during sleep causing repeated respiratory effort-related arousals (RERAs)
At sleep onset, dilator muscle tone falls and upper airway narrows
Significant rise in airflow resistance increases inspiratory effort until pt arouses from sleep
No apneas, hypopneas or desaturations as seen in OSA, pts keep breathing and do not desaturate
Repeated arousals fragment sleep and cause excessive daytime sleepiness
Diagnosis: RDI captures respiratory effort-related arousals (RERAs) using EEG arousals
RDI = AHI + RERA index
PSG required for formal dx
HSAT cannot detect RERAs, may miss UARS
Treatment: Tx similar to OSA
- Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine 2022