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Primary alveolar hypoventilation - Overview

Alternative Names

Ondine's curse

Definition of Primary alveolar hypoventilation:

Primary alveolar hypoventilation is a rare disorder of unknown cause in which a person does not take enough breaths per minute. The lungs and airways are normal.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Normally, when the oxygen levels in the blood are low or the carbon dioxide levels are high, there is a signal from the brain to breathe more deeply or more quickly. In people with primary alveolar hypoventilation, this change in breathing does not happen.

The cause of primary alveolar hypoventilation is unknown. Some patients have a specific genetic defect.

The disease mainly affects men 20 to 50 years old, although it may also occur in young boys.

  • Reviewed last on: 9/17/2010
  • David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Duffin J, Phillipson EA. Hypoventilation and Hyperventilation Syndromes In: Mason RJ, Broaddus CV, Martin TR, et al. Murray & Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 78.

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