Le Temps de Transit de l'onde Pulsée (TTP)

Sleep disordered breathing is now considered as a major health concern since its high prevalence and major related cardiovascular morbidity have been demonstrated by epidemiological studies in the general population. In order to apply adequate strategy both for diagnostic and therapeutic, the highest quality sleep monitoring should be achieved, To this extent assessment of respiratory effort and sleep fragmentation are crucial. Reference methods for these assessments are esophageal pressure and EEG recording, both techniques remain difficult to properly set up in clinical practice because of time consuming and invasiveness. Hence, alternative methods have been investigated; Pulse Transit Time (PTT) is likely to be the most encouraging as PTT is able to measure both respiratory efforts and sleep fragmentation. In this practical note authors have regrouped technical and physiological aspects and attempt to expla in how PTT, a simple highly useful tool, should bring significant improvement in sleep monitoring.