Polysomnography Test and Sleep Disordered Breathing in Prader-Willi Syndrome

Polysomnography is a new and innovative test used for the diagnosis of sleep disorders. It offers the possibility to identify and to early treat important diseases which can lead sudden to death in children and adults too. The portable monitor simplifies the procedure and it permits to monitor the patients at home. Obesity is the most powerful and the only reversible risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea. This condition is one of the most serious problem of the 21st century. It can appear like common obesity caused by an increased food intake and it is also part of some rare genetic syndromes. Prader Willi Syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by an abnormality on the 15th chromosome. It is the most common known genetic cause of life-threatening obesity in children. The study aims to describe sleep disorders in patients diagnosticated with this genetical syndrome. The evaluated patients associated a characteristically phenotype for Prader Willi Syndrome with unrest sleep and they had no treatment before. A high number of obstructive sleep apneas and rapid eye movement sleep alteration was registered. Breath and cardio-vascular pathological changes were also identified. Large fluctuations in heart rate and relatively long duration of low oxygen saturation was threatening patients life and nasal continuous airway pressure was needed in order to reverse respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms.