Sleep Apnea Types

There are three distinct forms of sleep apnea:

Central sleep apnea (CSA)

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

Mixed sleep apnea (MSA)

constituting 0.4%, 84% and 15% of cases respectively

Central sleep apnea (CSA)

occurs when the brain does not send the signal to the muscles to take a breath and there is no muscular effort to take a breath.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

occurs when the brain sends the signal to the muscles and the muscles make an effort to take a breath, but they are unsuccessful because the airway becomes obstructed and prevents an adequate flow of air.

Mixed sleep apnea(MSA)

As the name implies, this disorder is a combination of OSA and Central Sleep Apnea. occurs when there is both central sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea.