We characterized apneas by a quantitative method (esophageal pressure measurements) and by a qualitative method (strain gauges) at the same time in 22 patients with sleep-related breathing disorders. Detection of respiratory effort by strain gauges significantly overestimated the total number of central apneas in each patient. Despite this overestimation, none of the patients was wrongly diagnosed as having pure central sleep apnea syndrome. Strain gauges are sufficiently reliable for the characterization of apneas in most patients. When strain gauges reveal that most apneas are central in origin, verification by esophageal pressure measurements is recommended.

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Complement levels (CH50, C3, C4 and C1q) were determined in sera of 90 healthy subjects and 200 cancer patients. Complement levels of cancer patients were significantly higher than those of the healthy subjects, but there was a stage-linked increase of complement levels. Patients in remission had nearly normal complement levels, but patients with local tumor had increased complement levels, and a further increase was observed in patients with distant metastases. Treatment of these patients with radiotherapy or cytostatic drugs lowered the complement levels. At the terminal phase of the disease we also noted a drop in complement levels.