Sleep Apnea Morbidity

Cardiovascular morbidity and obstructive sleep apnea.

The repetitive respiratory events that characterize obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are each followed by abrupt increases in heart rate and in pulmonary and systemic artery pressure and by sudden decreases in right and left ventricular stroke volume. The changes in systemic pressure may be profound, with patients who are normotensive while awake having systolic pressures approaching 300 mm Hg aft...

Sleep Apnea

The obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), a form of periodic breathing, is highly prevalent disorder that affects at least 4% of adult male population and 2% of females and is associated with repetitive episodes of complete (apnea) or partial (hypopnea) occlusion of upper airway during sleep. These episodes result, among others, in loud snoring and in daytime symptoms such as excessive sleep...

Sleep apnea and heart failure: Part II: central sleep apnea.

In the first part of this 2-part review, we provided a synopsis of the cardiovascular effects of normal sleep and an overview of the diagnostic, pathophysiological, and therapeutic implications of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in the setting of heart failure (HF). In this second part, we turn our attention to central sleep apnea (CSA), commonly referred to as Cheyne-Stokes respiration. This bre...

Sleep apnea and heart failure: Part I: obstructive sleep apnea.

Heart failure (HF) affects 5 to 6 million North Americans and is increasing in prevalence.1 Mortality remains high. In Ontario, for example, between 1994 and 1997, approximately 33% of patients diagnosed with HF on first admission to hospital died within 1 year.2 Reductions in mortality demonstrated in randomized clinical trials of pharmacological agents, such as -receptor blockers3 and angiote...

Is Apnea-Hypopnea Index a proper measure for Obstructive Sleep Apnea severity?