A Management Guideline for Obesity-Hypoventilation Syndromes

Shyam Subramanian; Kingman P. Strohl

doi:10.1055/s-1999-22082

Sleep and Breathing, Table of Contents

Sleep Breath 1999; 3(4): 131-138
DOI: 10.1055/s-1999-22082

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

A Management Guideline for Obesity-Hypoventilation Syndromes

Shyam Subramanian¹ , Kingman P. Strohl²

Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University and the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center, Cleveland Ohio.

Abstract

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ABSTRACT

A survey of our pulmonary service revealed little consensus as to the definition, work-up, and management of hypoventilation, more often encountered in the presence of obesity. If hypoventilation is defined by an arterial carbon dioxide level above 45mmHg, 22% of artrial blood gas samples over a 5-month period met this criterium, suggesting a high Òany-causeÓ prevalence. This article presents the rationale and explanation for a management protocol for obesity-hypoventilation that is currently being assessed in the VA Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University training program in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

KEYWORD

hypercapnia - Pickwickian syndrome - obesity

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