A RERA is characterized by increasing respiratory effort such as dyspneas (and thus decreasing esophageal pressures) for 10 seconds or more leading to an arousal from sleep, but one that does not fulfill the criteria for a hypopnea or apnea.
[2] The gold standard method for measuring RERAs is esophageal manometry, as recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).
[3] More recent studies have found more impressive outcomes of methods in treating patients with RERAs and respiratory events that satisfy the definition of hypopneas in all aspects other than reduction of oxygen saturation levels.
[6] The formula to assessing the RDI is = (RERAs + Hypopneas + Apneas) X 60 / TST (in minutes).
That is, RDI means the average number of episodes of obstructive apnea, hypopnea, and respiratory event-related arousal per hour of sleep.