[Physiopathology of sleep-disordered breathing in children].

Sleep-disordered breathing represents a broad spectrum of alterations, ranging from habitual snoring, through obstructive hypoventilation to obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome, and produces breathing and architecture anomalies during sleep. There are some controversies on the physiopathological mechanisms of sleep-disordered breathing and its metabolic, neurocognitive and cardiovascular effects. The causes of comorbidity in obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in children are not yet well known and can include blood gasometric anomalies, fragmented sleep, and local and systemic inflammation, modulated by genetic, environmental and ethnic factors.