TY - JOUR T1 - Reversal of central sleep apnoea with change from methadone to buprenorphine-naloxone: a case report JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1202 LP - 1205 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00051315 VL - 46 IS - 4 AU - David Wang AU - Nicholas Lintzeris AU - Stefanie Leung AU - Paul S. Haber AU - Brendon J. Yee AU - Ronald R. Grunstein Y1 - 2015/10/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/4/1202.abstract N2 - Preventing prescription opioid poisoning deaths is a major public health priority in Western societies. Deaths from these medications exceed deaths from all illicit drugs combined [1]. Methadone (for pain treatment) is involved in one third of US prescription opioid overdose deaths despite accounting for only 5% of dispensed opioids [2]. There is a dose-dependent increase in the severity of central sleep apnoea (CSA) with methadone [3–5] and sleep disordered breathing is a contributing factor in methadone-related deaths [2]. The partial μ-agonist buprenorphine is putatively safer than methadone with a ceiling effect upon respiratory depression [6]. However, the effect of buprenorphine on breathing during sleep remains unclear. The only relevant report from a cross-sectional observational study suggested that buprenorphine-naloxone therapy may induce significant CSA and hypoxaemia [7].Methadone-using patients with central sleep apnoea may reverse symptoms with switch to buprenorphine-naloxone therapy http://ow.ly/NilUq ER -