Home sleep test

The home sleep test, or respiratory polygraphy, records over one night the airflow through your nose, your breathing effort, the oxygen level in your blood, snoring, heart rate and the position you sleep in. It is a small device you put on before going to sleep, and Dr. Irina shows you how to use it at the office.

It is the first-choice test to confirm obstructive sleep apnea in most adults, because it measures what matters on a normal night of your life, not in a laboratory. Dr. Irina interprets it personally and explains the result to you.

• Snoring with pauses in breathing
• Daytime sleepiness or tiredness
• Before deciding on a snoring or sleep apnea treatment
• To check the result of a treatment (CPAP, surgery, oral appliance)
• High blood pressure that is hard to control, or a previous diagnosis of arrhythmias

An evaluation visit with examination and airway endoscopy. Dr. Irina reviews your sleepiness and risk questionnaires and decides whether the home test is appropriate or whether your case requires an in-lab polysomnography, which she orders when other sleep disorders or associated conditions are suspected.

You pick up the device at the office with written instructions, put it on at home at your usual bedtime and return it the next day. Dr. Irina downloads and analyzes the recording and schedules a visit to explain the result and the treatment plan.

There is no recovery: it is a painless test with no medication. The next day you go about your normal life.

It is a safe test. Its limitation is that in some cases the night is not representative (sensors that move, insomnia that night) and it has to be repeated, or that the case requires a full in-lab polysomnography.

1. 01Snoring
   Snoring is the noise air makes as it passes through a narrow airway during sleep. It can be merely a nuisance or the visible sign of sleep apnea.
2. 02Obstructive sleep apnea
   What it is, how it is diagnosed and what treatment options exist, explained by an otolaryngologist (ENT) with a subspecialty in sleep-disordered breathing.

Dr. Irina performs and interprets the test herself, without intermediaries: this means the result turns into a concrete plan at the same follow-up visit. And if your case needs an in-lab study, she tells you clearly.