Respiratory complications feature strongly among numerous medical complications of severe obesity. These include sleep related breathing disorders : obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS or “Pickwickian Syndrome) as well as impaired pulmonary mechanics with restrictive changes, V/Q mismatching and reduced respiratory muscles strength as well as changes in ventilatory control.
This presentation will review pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical manifestations, investigations and management strategies of sleep related breathing disorders. Special emphasis will be placed on the importance of different phenotypes of sleep related breathing disorders, their prognostic importance and their role in planning management strategies. This will be illustrated through a range of relevant clinical cases.
The mechanisms by which severe obesity can changes respiratory function will be highlighted.