Apnea

(ap-nef -ah). Formerly used as synonymous with asphyxia, meaning breathle ne ; difficult respiration; partial or complete suspension of breathing. It is employed now only in the physiological sense, to denote the condition in which the blood is too highly oxygenized. The presence of an over-abundance of oxygen prevents stimulation of the medullary respiratory center, and respiration is arrested in consequence. A. infantum. Synonym of Laryngismus stridulus. A. neon a to rum, apnea of the newborn child, caused by difficult labor, pre ure upon the cord, etc. A pneumatic. I. Collapsed; uninflated, not inflatable: said of parts of the lung. 2. Carried on with the exclusion of air, as an a pneumatic operation or proce .