Regional Attended Sleep Medicine Lab

Overnight Sleep Study

• Diagnose sleep-related breathing disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and hypoventilation
• Diagnose seizures using a full seizure EEG montage
• Diagnose acid reflux using upper airway or esophageal pH testing
• Diagnose REM Behavior Disorder, Sleep Walking, Confusional Arousals, Night terrors, and other parasomnias
• Evaluate causes of chronic insomnia

Daytime Studies

• Actigraphy:  A wrist watch worn for one week used to measure sleep/wake patterns and diagnose disorders of circadian rhythm.

• Daytime Nap Studies:  A series of naps taken every two hours to evaluate for narcolepsy and other causes of excessive sleepiness

• Daytime Wake Studies:  A series of attempts to remain awake in a dimly lit, quiet room every two hours to evaluate for ability to maintain wakefulness for professional driving and flying requirements and check response to medication

Possible treatment options

• Positive Airway Pressure Trial:  Overnight attended CPAP and Bi-level titrations for obstructive sleep apnea, Bi-Level AVAPS and iVAPs for hypoventilation syndromes, Bi-Level servo-ventilation for central sleep apnea.
• Oral Appliance Trial:  A custom made oral appliance will be made and tested overnight for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea
• Provent Trial:  A nasal sticker with a one way air valve which increases resistance to exhalation will be applied and tested overnight for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea

What to expect after a sleep study

• All patient will have a telephone consultation with a fellowship trained, board certified sleep medicine specialist

Preparing for the sleep study

• You may be billed for a co-pay depending on your Kaiser Permanente health plan coverage.  If you have any questions about your coverage, call Member Services at 1-800-464-4000.
• If you think that you may have difficulty sleeping in the lab environment, we recommend that you bring one dose of Ambien.  You will need to obtain a prescription from your primary care physician prior to the sleep test as we do not distribute any medications in the sleep lab
• Do not bring your CPAP machine if you currently have one, but please do bring your own mask if coming for a titration study

Here’s a short Emmi video about your in -lab sleep study – Overview of how and why sleep studies are done in the lab. Also covers getting ready for a sleep study and what to expect after. You will be asked to enter your name, birthday, and medical record number to launch the video (15 minutes)

Anil Rama, M.D
Director of Sleep Medicine

Mia Zaharna, M.D.
Sleep Specialist