The current study investigated the night-to-night variability and diagnostic accuracy of the oxygen desaturation index (ODI), as measured by ambulatory monitoring, in the diagnosis of mild and moderate obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome. To assess the variability of the ODI, 35 patients were monitored at home during 7 consecutive nights by means of a portable recording device, the MESA...

Using pulse oximetry and Holter ECG monitoring on the night before coronary bypass surgery, we studied 30 male patients with coronary artery disease to determine the relationship between nocturnal hypoxaemia and myocardial ischaemia. The patients received intensive anti-angina medication and were sedated with clorazepate. Ten patients developed a total of 42 ischaemic episodes, 24 of which occu...

BACKGROUND Approved therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension can induce oxygen desaturation when administered to patients with secondary forms of pulmonary hypertension (PH), probably due to an increase in ventilation/perfusion mismatch. Thus, so far these treatments have largely failed in secondary forms of PH. METHODS We established an animal model of heterogeneous lung ventilation to ...

BACKGROUND Dysphagia is one of the most dangerous symptoms of acute stroke. Various screening tools have been suggested for the early detection of this condition. In spite of conflicting results, measurement of oxygen saturation (SpO2) during clinical swallowing assessment is still recommended by different national guidelines as a screening tool with a decline in SpO2 ≥2% usually being regarded...

BACKGROUND Ambulatory oxygen is frequently prescribed for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who have oxygen desaturation </=88% during exercise. The 6-min walk test (6MWT) with continuous pulse oximetry monitoring is a common method to document this oxygen desaturation, but the reproducibility of this test in determining the need for ambulatory oxygen in patients with C...

BACKGROUND Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) can be one of the major determinants of high blood pressure (BP), but there has been no study on SDB with an emphasis on shift workers. The objective of this study was to examine whether a relationship between SDB and blood pressure/hypertension is more evident among shift workers than among day workers. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we mea...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a common sleep disorder in stroke patients and is associated with decreased recovery and increased risk of recurrent stroke and mortality. The standard diagnostic test for SAS is poly(somno)graphy, but this is often not feasible in stroke rehabilitation settings. This study investigated the diagnostic value of nocturnal oximetry for screening...

BACKGROUND Exercise desaturation in patients with COPD is a pathophysiological phenomenon that is not wholly understood and whose clinical consequences are still unclear. METHODS Eighty-three patients with moderate to severe COPD and P(aO(2)) > 60 mm Hg who desaturated during the 6-min walk test were followed for 5 years. Forty-eight patients had early desaturation (S(pO(2)) fell below 90% l...