TY - JOUR T1 - Obstructive sleep apnoea: longer respiratory event lengths in patients with heart failure JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/09031936.00082212 SP - erj00822-2012 AU - Christina Efken AU - Thomas Bitter AU - Natalie Prib AU - Dieter Horstkotte AU - Olaf Oldenburg Y1 - 2012/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2012/09/27/09031936.00082212.abstract N2 - This study investigated the effect of heart failure (HF) on respiratory patterns in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).Thirty-nine patients with established OSA (apnoea-hypopnoea index [AHI] >10·h−1) and with HF (NYHA II+III, LVEF ≤40%; n=26, age 67±9 years) or without HF (LVEF ≥50%, NT-proBNP <400 ;pg·mL−1; n=13, age 73±6 years) underwent simultaneous right- and left-heart catheterization within 12 ;h of cardiorespiratory polygraphy recording.Respiratory patterns of OSA were significantly longer in OSA patients with versus without HF, including cycle length (CL; 46.0±10.0 vs 37.8±10.6 sec; p=0.024), ventilation length (VL; 25.4±6.3 vs 21.3±7.1 sec; p=0.044), apnoea length (AL; 20.5±4.9 vs 16.5±3.9 sec; p=0.013), time-to-peak ventilation (TTPV; 10.6±3.0 vs 8.3±2.5 sec; p=0.021) and circulatory delay (CD; 28.5±7.5 vs 22.6±3.7 sec; p=0.005). Positive and robust correlations were found between some of these parameters and the degree of congestion in HF; CL (r=0.53; p=0.006), VL (r=0.55; p=0.004) and TTPV (r=0.47; p=0.015) all increased with a rise in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure.Respiratory patterns in OSA appear to be dependent on cardiac function, with an increase in event lengths as cardiac function decreases. In patients with HF, some of these events correlate with the degree of pulmonary congestion. ER -