Abstract:Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome is a genetic disease characterized by alveolar hypoventilation and autonomic dysregulation. Patients have hypoventilations, especially during sleep, conditioning hypercapnia which can lead to neurological damage and death. They therefore need mechanical ventilators, that provide sufficient gas exchange, and pulse-oximeters that monitor oxy-hemoglobin blood concentration. Due to the restrictions regarding domiciliary assistive devices, the presence of a caregiver is r… Show more
The objective of this study was to test the capacity of vibrotactile stimulation transmitted to the wrist bones by a vibrating wristband to awaken healthy individuals and patients requiring home mechanical ventilation during sleep. Healthy subjects (n = 20) and patients with central hypoventilation (CH) (Congenital Central Hypoventilation syndrome n = 7; non-genetic form of CH n = 1) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n = 9), underwent a full-night polysomnography while wearing the wristband. Vibrotactile alarms were triggered five times during the night at random intervals. Electroencephalographic (EEG), clinical (trunk lift) and cognitive (record the time on a sheet of paper) arousals were recorded. Cognitive arousals were observed for 94% of the alarms in the healthy group and for 66% and 63% of subjects in the CH and COPD groups, respectively (p < 0.01). The percentage of participants experiencing cognitive arousals for all alarms, was 72% for healthy subjects, 37.5% for CH patients and 33% for COPD patients (ns) (94%, 50% and 44% for clinical arousals (p < 0.01) and 100%, 63% and 44% for EEG arousals (p < 0.01)). Device acceptance was good in the majority of cases, with the exception of one CH patient and eight healthy participants. In summary this study shows that a vibrotactile stimulus is effective to induce awakenings in healthy subjects, but is less effective in patients, supporting the notion that a vibrotactile stimulus could be an effective backup to a home mechanical ventilator audio alarm for healthy family caregivers.
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