ABSTRACT
The term “sleep-disordered breathing” (SDB) encompasses a number of different clinical disorders. These conditions result from several different pathophysiologic mechanisms and represent different points along a continuous spectrum of severity. Further, their frequency, presentation, and consequences vary across the life-span. SDB is a spectrum, just as blood pressure is a spectrum. And, just as with blood pressure, the boundary between safe and unsafe levels of SDB is uncertain and changeable.
