Sleep Disordered Breathing and Cardiovascular Disease JACC State-of-the-Art Review

Sleep disordered breathing causes repetitive episodes of nocturnal hypoxemia, sympathetic nervous activation, and cortical arousal, often associated with excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep disordered breathing is common in people with, or at risk of, cardiovascular (CV) disease including those who are obese or have hypertension, coronary disease, heart failure, or atrial fibrillation. Current therapy of obstructive sleep apnea includes weight loss (if obese), exercise, and positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy. This improves daytime sleepiness. Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with increased CV risk, but treatment with PAP in randomized trials has not been shown to improve CV outcome. Central sleep apnea (CSA) is not usually associated with daytime sleepiness in heart failure or atrial fibrillation and is a marker of increased CV risk, but PAP has been shown to be harmful in 1 randomized trial. The benefits of better phenotyping, targeting of higher-risk patients, and a more personalized approach to therapy are being explored in ongoing trials. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation.

Automated summary

Sleep disordered breathing can lead to nocturnal hypoxemia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and is common in people with cardiovascular disease or at risk. Current therapy includes weight loss, exercise, and positive airway pressure, but PAP treatment has not shown improvement in cardiovascular outcomes in randomized trials.