Fifty-one percent of male patients with stable heart failure suffer from sleep-related breathing disorders: 40% from central and 11% from obstructive sleep apnea. Both obstructive and central types of sleep apnea result in sleep disruption and arterial oxyhemoglobin desaturation. Patients with sleep apnea have a high prevalence of atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias.

Enhanced sensitivity to carbon dioxide may predispose some patients with heart failure to the development of central sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is highly prevalent in patients with cardiovascular disease. These disordered breathing events are associated with a profile of perturbations that include intermittent hypoxia, oxidative stress, sympathetic activation, and endothelial dysfunction, all of which are critical mediators of cardiovascular disease. Evidence supports a causal association of sleep apnea with the incidence and morbidity of hypertension, coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, and stroke. Several discoveries in the pathogenesis, along with developments in the treatment of sleep apnea, have accumulated in recent years. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of sleep apnea, the evidence that addresses the links between sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease, and research that has addressed the effect of sleep apnea treatment on cardiovascular disease and clinical endpoints. Finally, we review the recent development in sleep apnea treatment options, with special consideration of treating patients with heart disease. Future directions for selective areas are suggested.

In patients with systolic HF, CSA, severe right ventricular systolic dysfunction, and low diastolic blood pressure might have an adverse effect on survival.

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In 55% of patients with heart failure and sleep apnea, first-night nasal CPAP eliminates disordered breathing and reduces ventricular irritability.

The prevalence of severe occult sleep-disordered breathing is high in ambulatory patients with stable, optimally treated chronic congestive heart failure. The breathing episodes are associated with severe nocturnal arterial blood oxyhemoglobin desaturation and excessive arousals. Severe untreated sleep-disordered breathing may adversely affect left ventricular function, resulting in a vicious cycle that could contribute to death in patients with congestive heart failure. Prospective, longitudinal studies on survival are needed.

In patients with heart failure, administration of a single dose of acetazolamide before sleep improves central sleep apnea and related daytime symptoms.