Sleep-disordered breathing and cardiac disease

Abstract

The prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is ca. 30 % in patients with coronary heart disease, ca. 30 % in patients with Hypertonus, ca. 50 % in patients with congestive heart failure and ca. 60 % in patients with atrial fibrillation. In patients with resistent hypertension, prevalence of SDB is about 80 %. However, patients with SDB and associated cardiac disease like atrial fibrillation or congestive heart failure do not report daytime symptoms like excessive daytime sleepiness. Ambulatory cardiorespiratory polygraphy is used to screen for SDB in patients with cardiac disease. An effective treatment of SDB can reduced blood pressure and can avoid arrhythmias. The effect of treatment of SDB in patients with congestive heart failure is currently investigated in clinical randomized trials.