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Nocturnal Hypoventilation Syndrome
Nocturnal Hypoventilation Syndrome is related to sleep apnoea, but is due to the brain's respiratory control centre not sending out enough nerve impulses to the breathing muscles. So, rather than the breathing being stopped by obstruction to the upper airways behind the tongue (as with OSA), there simply is not enough breathing and sometimes complete cessation of breathing.
It is less common than OSA, snoring is not a feature of this kind of sleep apnoea, and it usually results from a variety of neuromuscular diseases or chest wall deformities.
The treatment consists of overnight ventilation using a nose or face mask system, very similar to those used in nasal CPAP for the treatment of OSA.