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In healthy mountaineers ascending rapidly to high altitude, sleep quality is initially impaired but improves with acclimatization in association with improved oxygen saturation, while periodic breathing persists. Therefore, high altitude sleep disturbances seem to be related predominantly to hypoxemia rather than to periodic breathing.

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NCT02050425 (registered at ClinicalTrials.gov).

Background Many patients with the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSA) travel to the mountains for recreational and professional activities while temporarily discontinuing continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. A study was undertaken to evaluate the hypothesis that altitude would aggravate their hypoxaemia, sleep-related breathing disturbances and impair daytime performance. Methods Thirty-four patients with OSA of median age 62 years (IQR 57e65), median apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI) 47.5 events/h (IQR 32.4e72.8), residing at <600 m were enrolled. A crossover trial randomised for the sequence of altitude exposure was carried out: patients spent 1 day in Zurich (490 m) and 4 days in the Swiss Alps at 1860 m and 2590 m (2 days each) during which continuous positive airway pressure was discontinued. Daily evaluations included polysomnography, symptom questionnaires, physical examination and driving simulator tests. Results Polysomnography revealed median oxygen saturations at 490 m and in the first and second nights at 1860 and 2590 m, respectively, of 94%, 90%, 90%, 86% and 87% (p<0.01 between altitudes). Corresponding median AHI were 47.5, 85.1, 74.6, 90.0 and 90.9 events/h (p<0.01 between altitudes) with ratios of central to obstructive events of 0.1, 0.8, 1.0, 1.9 and 1.9 (p<0.01 between altitudes). Tracking performance during simulated driving was significantly impaired at 2590 m compared with 490 m. Systolic blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmias were increased at altitude. Conclusions Altitude exposure in untreated patients with OSA aggravates hypoxaemia, increases sleeprelated breathing disturbances due to frequent central apnoeas/hypopnoeas, impairs driving simulator performance and induces cardiovascular stress. These findings have implications for counselling and treating patients with OSA planning to travel to high altitude. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00514826.

BACKGROUND SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, which emerged in China in late 2019, rapidly spread across the world with several million victims in 213 countries. Switzerland was severely hit by the virus, with 43,000 confirmed cases as of 1 September 2020. AIM In cooperation with the Federal Office of Public Health, we set up a surveillance database in February 2020 to monitor hospitalised patients with COVID-19, in addition to their mandatory reporting system. METHODS Patients hospitalised for more than 24 hours with a positive polymerase chain-reaction test, from 20 Swiss hospitals, are included. Data were collected in a customised case report form based on World Health Organisation recommendations and adapted to local needs. Nosocomial infections were defined as infections for which the onset of symptoms was more than 5 days after the patient’s admission date. RESULTS As of 1 September 2020, 3645 patients were included. Most patients were male (2168, 59.5%), and aged between 50 and 89 years (2778, 76.2%), with a median age of 68 (interquartile range 54–79). Community infections dominated with 3249 (89.0%) reports. Comorbidities were frequently reported, with hypertension (1481, 61.7%), cardiovascular diseases (948, 39.5%) and diabetes (660, 27.5%) being the most frequent in adults; respiratory diseases and asthma (4, 21.1%), haematological and oncological diseases (3, 15.8%) were the most frequent in children. Complications occurred in 2679 (73.4%) episodes, mostly respiratory diseases (2470, 93.2% in adults; 16, 55.2% in children), and renal (681, 25.7%) and cardiac (631, 23.8%) complications for adults. The second and third most frequent complications in children affected the digestive system and the liver (7, 24.1%). A targeted treatment was given in 1299 (35.6%) episodes, mostly with hydroxychloroquine (989, 76.1%). Intensive care units stays were reported in 578 (15.8%) episodes. A total of 527 (14.5%) deaths were registered, all among adults. CONCLUSION The surveillance system has been successfully initiated and provides a robust set of data for Switzerland by including about 80% (compared with official statistics) of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 hospitalised patients, with similar age and comorbidity distributions. It adds detailed information on the epidemiology, risk factors and clinical course of these cases and, therefore, is a valuable addition to the existing mandatory reporting.

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