Obstructive sleep apnea associated with cerebral hypoxemia and death.

An increase in the arousal threshold may predispose critically ill patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to prolonged apneas and death during sleep. We report two cases in whom polysomnographically documented OSA resulted in EEG changes compatible with cerebral hypoxemia with subsequent respective transient encephalopathy in one instance and death in the other.