Sleep apnoea syndrome secondary to rheumatoid arthritis.

A patient who developed severe sleepiness and sleep apnoea in association with adult acquired retrognathia and subluxation of the cervical spine at the level of C3-C4, both resulting from rheumatoid arthritis, is described. The possible causative factors of the association between sleep apnoea and rheumatoid arthritis include reduction of the size of the upper airway by temporomandibular joint destruction, brainstem compression due to rheumatoid arthritis affecting the cervical spine, sleep fragmentation, and drug effects.