Effects of inhaled CO 2 and added dead space on idiopathic central sleep apnea

Xie, Ailiang, Fiona Rankin, Ruth Rutherford, and T. Douglas Bradley. Effects of inhaled CO 2 and added dead space on idiopathic central sleep apnea. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(3): 918–926, 1997.—We hypothesized that reductions in arterial [Formula: see text]([Formula: see text]) below the apnea threshold play a key role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic central sleep apnea syndrome (ICSAS). If so, we reasoned that raising[Formula: see text] would abolish apneas in these patients. Accordingly, patients with ICSAS were studied overnight on four occasions during which the fraction of end-tidal CO 2 and transcutaneous[Formula: see text] were measured: during room air breathing ( N1), alternating room air and CO 2 breathing ( N2), CO 2 breathing all night ( N3), and addition of dead space via a face mask all night ( N4). Central apneas were invariably preceded by reductions in fraction of end-tidal CO 2 . Both administration of a CO 2 -enriched gas mixture and addition of dead space induced 1- to 3-Torr increases in transcutaneous [Formula: see text], which virtually eliminated apneas and hypopneas; they decreased from 43.7 ± 7.3 apneas and hypopneas/h on N1 to 5.8 ± 0.9 apneas and hypopneas/h during N3( P < 0.005), from 43.8 ± 6.9 apneas and hypopneas/h during room air breathing to 5.9 ± 2.5 apneas and hypopneas/h of sleep during CO 2 inhalation during N2 ( P< 0.01), and to 11.6% of the room air level while the patients were breathing through added dead space during N4 ( P< 0.005). Because raising[Formula: see text] through two different means virtually eliminated central sleep apneas, we conclude that central apneas during sleep in ICSA are due to reductions in[Formula: see text] below the apnea threshold.