The central alveolar hypoventilation syndrome is a rare cause of apnea during sleep.
The popular name comes from a myth in which the water sprite Ondine/Undine curses her lover for infidelity.
Clinical features:
(1) failure of the central respiratory drive during sleep (usually non-REM)
(2) lack of response to hypercapnia and hypoxia
(3) subsequent apnea, respiratory failure and death during sleep
The condition may be:
(1) congenital
(2) acquired (brainstem infarction, paraneoplastic)
The defect is in the descending medullocervical pathways that control automatic breathing.
