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Heart Failure and Sleep-Disordered Breathing - The Plot Thickens.
N Engl J Med. 2015 Sep 1;
Authors: Magalang UJ, Pack AI
Abstract
Central sleep apnea occurring within the cyclic breathing pattern of Cheyne-Stokes respiration has been reported to be common in patients with heart failure.(1) During sleep, episodes of hyperventilation followed by a complete cessation (apnea) or decrease (hypopnea) in breathing are associated with oxyhemoglobin desaturations, arousals, and sympathetic nervous system activation that could be deleterious to the failing heart. Thus, suppression of central sleep apneas and hypopneas seemed to be a reasonable target in the treatment of patients with heart failure. Cowie et al.(2) now describe in the Journal the results of the SERVE-HF (Treatment of Sleep-Disordered Breathing with Predominant Central . . .
PMID: 26323939 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]