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Biomedical subjects

S Mondini

Publications and source records attributed to S Mondini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Treatment of obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS): effect of weight loss and interference of otorhinolaryngoiatric pathology.

The role of weight loss in the therapy of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) was investigated in 23 affected patients with various degrees of obesity (body mass index range 26.6-61.0) free of cranio-facial malformations. Weight loss resulted 18.5 +/- 14.7 (s.d.) kg and was significantly correlated with baseline BMI value (r = 0.94; P less than 0.0001). Weight loss significantly reduced the number of apneas + hypopneas per hour of sleep ((A + H)I) from 66.5 +/- 23.0 to 33.0 +/- 26.2 (P less than 0.0001) and improved the mean of oxygen desaturation peaks during apneas (mSaO2) from 81.9 +/- 6.9 to 87.6 +/- 3.9; P less than 0.001). A significant correlation was found between weight loss and changes in the (A + H)I (r = -0.55; P less than 0.01) and the mSaO2 (r = 0.46; P less than 0.05). The (A + H)I significantly improved in both patients who lost more than 10 kg (basal BMI: 42.3 +/- 10.0) and in those who lost less than 10 kg (basal BMI: 30.2 +/- 2.3), whereas the mSaO2 improved only in the former. Obese patients with moderate to heavy ORL pathological findings had worse pretreatment and final OSAS parameters than those with absent or mild ORL lesions. However, both groups showed a significant, although quantitatively different, improvement of the (A + H)I and mSaO2 after weight loss. Compared to those who were cured or improved after the treatment, patients who failed to obtain significant effects on OSAS clinical presentation also had a significantly higher prevalence of ORL pathology. It is concluded that: (1) weight loss improves parameters and clinical presentation of OSAS in the majority of affected obese patients; (2) a relationship exists between the entity of weight loss and that of improvement of the syndrome; (3) weight loss must be encouraged even in patients with mild to moderate overweight; (4) the presence of ORL pathology may represent a confusing factor in the interpretation of the results obtained after weight loss.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Cerebral anoxic attacks in sleep apnea syndrome.

In a 52-year-old man who presented with an obstructive sleep apnea (OSAS) syndrome, we observed cerebral anoxic attacks during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Polysomnography showed that the attacks were due to severe hypoxia provoked by apneas lasting up to 220 s. Electroencephalogram (EEG) and clinical features clearly differentiate cerebral anoxic attacks from epileptic seizures. The length of apneas in our patient is very unusual, indicating an impairment of the mechanism terminating apneas. The cause of this impairment is unknown. However, this case report documents a possible pathogenetic mechanism other than heart arrhythmias responsible for sudden death or coma arising during sleep.

Arousal↗
PubMed1988

Zolpidem-polysomnographic study of the effect of a new hypnotic drug in sleep apnea syndrome.

Clinical studies have shown that zolpidem, an original imidazopyridine derivative, induces and maintains sleep and does not have daytime side-effects. Polysomnography has revealed that this drug has several interesting qualities that benzodiazepines do not possess: stages 3-4 increase, stage 2 is unchanged or slightly reduced and no abnormal changes are detected on the EEG tracing. Like benzodiazepines, zolpidem slightly reduces REM sleep. The Multiple Sleep Latency Test confirmed that the drug does not cause daytime drowsiness. All the hypnotic drugs studied up to now worsen heavy snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. A controlled double blind cross-over trial assessed the effects of a single dose of zolpidem 20 mg on nocturnal breathing in patients with mild forms of sleep apnea syndrome. The results indicate that, at this dose, the drug does not overcome the existing contraindications to the use of hypnotics in this syndrome.

Humans↗
PubMed1987

Sleep-related breathing impairment in myotonic dystrophy.

Respiratory failure has been described in myotonic dystrophy; it worsens during sleep but its central or peripheral origin has yet to be determined. Moreover, patients may present severely disturbed sleep and daytime somnolence. Eight patients with mild to moderate myotonic dystrophy were studied to assess breathing function while awake and during sleep by means of the pulmonary function tests, nocturnal polysomnographic examination and the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT). Three patients had restrictive respiratory defects; none had signs of airway obstruction. All patients had very disrupted nocturnal sleep. Of six patients who underwent the MSLT only two showed a mild tendency to sleep during the day. Six patients had pathological apnoea plus hypopnoea index [(A+H)I] and there was a prevalence of central apnoeas. The apnoeas occurred while resting but awake and throughout all sleep stages. Only two patients (the ones with the least vital capacity) had episodes of progressive oxygen desaturation during rapid eye movement sleep, similar to those found in other restrictive disorders and in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is concluded that the breathing pattern characteristic of our myotonic dystrophy patients was the occurrence of central apnoeas both at rest while awake and during sleep.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Writing epilepsy.

Two patients complained of myoclonic jerks precipitated by writing. They had suffered only sporadic seizures triggered by reading. Laboratory assessment demonstrated that typing was the most powerful stimulus in triggering spike-wave discharges associated with myoclonic seizures. Sodium Valproate (20 mg/Kg/die) led to a complete remission of seizures in both cases.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Respiratory flutter during carbon dioxide rebreathing in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

In order to detect the dysfunction of the upper airway muscles in awake patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), we examined the effect of a chemical stimulus (CO2) on flow-volume loops obtained during tidal breathing. Six flow-volume curves during forced maneuvers and six flow-volume tracings during rebreathing of CO2 were recorded in 20 patients with OSAS. All patients had numerous obstructive apneas (mean apnea index 61 +/- SD 33, percentage of obstructive apneas 76 +/- 29) associated with moderate to severe degrees of arterial oxygen desaturation. Of the 18 patients in whom at least six flow-volume loops could be obtained during CO2 rebreathing, 13 exhibited respiratory flutter (range: grade 1 to 6) during tidal breathing in the flow-volume tracing (RF VtCO2). The greater the degree of RF VtCO2 during wakefulness, the less was the lowest oxygen saturation (LSaO2) during sleep. In fact, all four patients with RF VtCO2 score 6 had LSaO2 below 30%.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Mononucleosis and chronic daytime sleepiness. A long-term follow-up study.

Twelve patients between 14 and 26 years of age, ten with infectious mononucleosis and two with Guillain-Barré syndrome, all of whom were suspected of having had Epstein-Barr viral infection, developed daytime sleepiness. The daytime somnolence was confirmed objectively by polygraphic monitoring seven weeks to 4 1/2 months after the onset of clinical symptoms. The patients have been followed up for three to 12 years. None has had any other neurologic sequelae, but all have disabling daytime sleepiness. Treatment brings only mild relief. A retrospective chart study of 35 patients with infectious mononucleosis did not identify, on the basis of initial clinical symptoms, those patients who developed chronic impairment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Abnormal breathing patterns during sleep in diabetes.

Nineteen diabetic patients, 12 type I (insulin-dependent) and 7 type II (late-onset, non-insulin-dependent), underwent nocturnal polygraphic monitoring after a daytime medical evaluation that included tests of vagal responses and, in 6 patients, pulmonary function and hypercapnic and hypoxic responses. Five lean type I patients had abnormal sleep-related breathing patterns with central or obstructive sleep apnea and brief breathing irregularities during stages 3 to 4 non-rapid-eye-movement sleep, compared with only 1 overweight type II diabetic with moderate obstructive sleep apnea. There was no correlation between daytime ventilatory study findings and abnormal breathing patterns during sleep, but there was a clear relationship between neuropathy and sleep-related breathing abnormalities in type I insulin-dependent diabetics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Diabetic autonomic dysfunction, blood pressure, and sleep.

We measured serially the blood pressure of 7 normal controls and 11 Type I insulin-dependent and 6 Type II non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients during sleep. All subjects underwent 2 or 3 nights of monitoring during which blood pressure was measured with an arteriosonde, a Doppler-type system with a cuff that automatically inflates every 15 minutes. All 7 normal controls, 3 of 11 Type I, and all 6 Type II diabetic patients had normal results from bedside tests of autonomic function. The Type I patients had abnormal systolic blood pressure measurements throughout the night. Unlike normal controls and Type II diabetics, their blood pressure did not rise progressively in the early morning hours. During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, their blood pressure measurements were significantly higher and lower than values measured during non-REM sleep, in sharp contrast to those in the other two groups, whose REM sleep-related blood pressure values were slightly above the preceding non-REM sleep measurements.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Sleep-related respiratory disorders.

Neurologists are becoming increasingly aware of the frequency and clinical importance of sleep-related respiratory impairment. Sleep-induced narrowing of the upper airways underlies the widespread and supposedly trivial complaint of snoring, which may not only constitute a risk factor for the cardiocirculatory system, but in predisposed individuals, may lead to a sleep apnea syndrome, with its array of serious disturbances, including hypersomnia, systemic and pulmonary hypertension and ultimately heart failure. Idiopathic chronic alveolar hypoventilation, or Ondine's curse, is a fairly stereotyped clinical syndrome: sleep-related respiratory insufficiency in the absence of airways stenosis. Finally, sleep, and REM sleep in particular, significantly aggravates hypoventilation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kyphoscoliosis or chest musculoskeletal disorders.

Cardiovascular System↗
PubMed1984

Aging and sleep apnea: action of benzodiazepine, acetazolamide, alcohol, and sleep deprivation in a healthy elderly group.

Ten nonobese, healthy elderly adults (M = 73.3 years) were monitored polygraphically during sleep for sleep state changes, breathing, and the development of cardiac arrhythmias. All participated in 2 baseline nights and 1 night of flurazepam 30 mg ingestion; six underwent 1 night of sleep deprivation; four received ethyl alcohol (.6 mg/kg); and four whose apnea worsened significantly with flurazepam 30 mg were pretreated for 3 days with acetazolamide, taking acetazolamide and flurazepam 30 mg on the fourth night. Elderly adults with an Apnea Index (the number of apneas per sleep hour) between 5 and 7 at baseline experienced a worsening of their apnea with each manipulation. Acetazolamide did not protect individuals whose Apnea Index increased after flurazepam ingestion. One person developed premature ventricular contractions in conjunction with an increased Apnea Index after each manipulation.

Acetazolamide↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nocturnal myoclonus in restless legs syndrome effect of carbamazepine treatment.

We studied Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and nocturnal myoclonus (NM) in 9 patients before and after carbamazepine treatment, to verify the correlation between improvement of RLS and modification of NM pattern during sleep. Although CBZ proved effective in the treatment of RLS, it did not modify the pattern of nocturnal myoclonus and its relationship to arousal during sleep. The efficacy of CBZ on RLS may be due to other properties of the drug rather than to the effect on nocturnal sleep: reduction of sleep latency and wakefulness after sleep onset.

Adult↗