The mean value of the descriptors of the pathological events recorded on the polysomnogram as a support tool in the diagnosis of SAHS

Commercial polysomnographs used in the test to diagnose Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (SAHS) usually generate a report summarizing the test. This report helps clinicians in the task of diagnosing the patient. Some of the information presented in these reports has been carefully studied and standardized -for example, the apnea-hypopnea index. Therefore, there are clear guidelines on how to interpret it. However, these reports usually contain other information that has not been carefully studied and for which no precise guidelines on how to interpret it exist. Examples include the mean values of certain descriptors of the pathological events that have occurred during the patient´s sleep, such as the mean duration of apneas, hypopneas and desaturations, the mean of the minimum blood oxyhemoglobin saturation value reached in each desaturation, ecetera. The goals of this paper are to study whether this information is useful in the diagnosis of SAHS and to try to provide some insight on how to interpret it. To this end, we have analyzed the descriptors generated from 97 patients who underwent the polysomnographic test, comparing the ones arising from SAHS patients with the ones arising from healthy patients.