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Heart failure and sleep apnoea: To sleep perchance to dream
Author(s) -
Ferreira Susana,
Winck João,
Bettencourt Paulo,
RochaGoncalves Francico
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
european journal of heart failure
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.149
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1879-0844
pISSN - 1388-9842
DOI - 10.1016/j.ejheart.2005.07.013
Subject(s) - medicine , heart failure , continuous positive airway pressure , polysomnography , sleep (system call) , asymptomatic , confounding , obesity , positive airway pressure , sleep apnea , disease , intensive care medicine , cardiology , apnea , obstructive sleep apnea , computer science , operating system
Heart failure and sleep apnoea are major health problems with an increasingly recognized association; evidence suggests that sleep apnoea may play a role in the progression of heart failure. However, confounding factors such as obesity, hypertension and coronary heart disease make this relationship uncertain and an independent correlation remains unproven. Diagnosis of sleep apnoea is suboptimal, as it is often asymptomatic and polysomnography is expensive and time‐consuming. A simple and reliable screening protocol is required. All heart failure patients should be considered to be at high risk of sleep apnoea, as this association might be linked to adverse outcome. Continuous positive airway pressure has shown some beneficial effects, but long‐term outcome and improvement in survival remains to be demonstrated. Despite recent advances in the understanding of the complex relationship between heart failure and sleep apnoea, there are a number of areas requiring further investigation, which may have important implications for the management and prognosis of a significant number of patients.