Disappearance of sleep apnea by tracheal intubation in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

We have described a patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease who showed disappearance of sleep apnea by tracheal intubation. All night polygraphic study revealed a clear correlation between the cyclic EEG change and sleep apnea. The periodic synchronous discharge (PSD) phase in EEG corresponded to the breathing phase in respiration and non-PSD phase corresponded to the apneic phase. Intratracheal intubation has completely stopped both the apnea and the cyclic EEG change. Therefore, we assumed that the PSD-non-PSD cycle in EEG might causally relate with the peripheral obstruction of the airway during sleep.