Mixed Sleep Apnea

What Is a Mixed Apnea?

A mixed sleep apnea starts as a central event and then becomes obstructive during the latter portion of the same episode.

Mixed apnea or complex sleep apnea, is a combination between obstructive (absence of airflow but continued respiratory effort) and central (absence of airflow and respiratory effort).

It starts typically with central apnea episodes for about 10 seconds, followed by obstructive apnea events.

A majority of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have both obstructive and mixed apneas.

The cause of mixed sleep apnea is uncertain, but it can appear when the airway closes during a central sleep apnea episode.

Scientists believe that most people with obstructive sleep apnea has some abnormality in the breathing reflex.

Mixed Apnea Starts with Obstructive Apnea Episodes

After a long pause in breathing in your sleep, the blood oxygen level will be low. You will have gasps and other breathing efforts to recover your oxygen level.

From this breathing effort results an unusually high level of carbon dioxide in the blood, which may trigger a central apnea event.

The harder the event of obstructive sleep apnea, the more likely is expected a central apnea event to appear. In this situation, we have mixed apnea.

It's obvious that when you treat obstructive apnea, the "overbreathing" event will disappear. Central apnea is less likely to appear in this situation, so mixed apnea event will disappear.

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