The Neurodiagnostic journal
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Distinguishing obstructive sleep apnea from central apnea depends upon accurate measure of chest and abdominal movement. American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) polysomnography guidelines recommend the use of respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) belts but not piezoelectrode (PE) belts for measuring chest and abdominal movements. To compare these two sensors, we measured the signal amplitude for 10 RIP belts and 10 PE belts stretched by mechanical distraction across six distances (2.5 to 15.0 centimeters) and replicated 10 times for each belt. ⋯ Signals from PE belts highly correlated with the distance of distraction (r = 0.96 to 0.99) and the RIP belts (r = 0.98 to 0.99). These results suggest that PE belts perform similarly to RIP belts at distraction distances up to 10.0 centimeters. Further testing on biological models is needed to determine if PE belts are a suitable alternative for RIP belts in polysomnography.
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Sleep is integral to the health and well-being of all people. Sleep disorders are on the rise and affect millions of people in America. Misconceptions about sleep are prevalent, and the negative effects of poor sleep on society are underrepresented. ⋯ The beginnings of these solutions lie in the hands of healthcare workers and educational institutions. Interventions in the form of questionnaires have been validated as effective in determining a person's risk of sleep apnea. The STOP-BANG questionnaire is one such intervention that may be useful by allied health professionals to assist in patient screening of sleep apnea.
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Case Reports
The importance of cardiac monitoring in the epilepsy monitoring unit: a case presentation of ictal asystole.
Ictal asystole may be a potent marker for epilepsy patients at high risk for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The use of inpatient long-term video-electroencephalographic (VEEG) monitoring coupled with simultaneous continuous cardiac telemetry is an important tool to detect ictal asystole as well as other significant ictal cardiac arrhythmias. In this paper a case of ictal asystole detected during VEEG is presented. ⋯ A 20 second period of asystole began just prior to the secondary generalization. During this admission the patient underwent a potentially life-saving pacemaker implantation. The use of cardiac telemetry and baseline EKG are suggested for patients admitted into epilepsy monitoring units as part of the standard epilepsy monitoring protocol.