Exaggerated ventilatory drive estimates from epiglottic and esophageal pressure deflections in the presence of airway occlusion

Abstract

Esophageal and epiglottic pressure deflection measurements are widely used as gold-standard measures of ventilatory effort during sleep without consideration of differential obstruction effects between measurement sites. This study is the first to quantify the effect of airway occlusion on esophageal versus epiglottic pressure recordings during sleep. The findings of substantial acute effects of occlusion itself on esophageal and particularly epiglottic pressure deflections are important to consider in the planning, analysis, and interpretation of studies that rely on pressure deflections for inferences regarding inspiratory effort.