TY - JOUR T1 - Is auto-servoventilation unnecessary in patients with heart failure and apnoea? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 551 LP - 553 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00057114 VL - 44 IS - 2 AU - Michael Arzt AU - Michael Pfeifer AU - Stephan Schroll Y1 - 2014/08/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/2/551.abstract N2 - From the authors:D. Jaffuel and colleagues raised several important aspects with respect to our previously published randomised controlled trial of auto-servoventilation (ASV) in heart failure patients with sleep disordered breathing (SDB) [1]. We appreciate the opportunity to comment.Their first point addresses the type of SDB we studied. Our aim was to include heart failure patients with an at least moderate degree of SDB. Therefore, the inclusion criterion was as clear and simple as an apnoea–hypopnoea index ≥20 events per hour of sleep, assessed by in-laboratory polysomnography. As a consequence, our sample encompassed the full spectrum of SDB types, from “pure” central sleep apnoea (CSA) to “pure” obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), with some patients with coexisting CSA and OSA in the middle. Randomisation was stratified according to the predominant type of SDB, there being 36 patients with predominant OSA and 32 patients with predominant CSA in the trial. This design aspect allowed us to analyse the outcomes separately for CSA and OSA: both the changes in … ER -