Untreated sleep apnea linked to deaths of heart failure patients

Heart failure patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are more likely to die than those without this sleep disorder, says a study published in a professional journal for cardiologists.

The study followed 164 patients with heart failure for more than seven years. Those with OSA were found to have had double the death rate of patients who did not have sleep apnea. Of the 37 patients with untreated OSA, the death rate was 24 percent in contrast to 12 percent for the 113 patients with no sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea is common in patients with heart failure, and contributes to increased blood pressure, heart rate, and other cardiac disturbances. The study, Influence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Mortality in Patients With Heart Failure, was published in the April 17, 2007, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“The vast majority of heart failure patients across North America are not being assessed for the diagnosis of sleep apnea and, as a result, are not being treated for it. Our data says that many of these patients need to be treated for this disorder and that this will have a significant impact on their survival,” said Dr. Douglas Bradley, head of the Sleep Research Laboratories at Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and Mount Sinai Hospital, and director of the University of Toronto Centre for Sleep Medicine and Circadian Biology.

This research will influence how we investigate and treat patients with heart failure, said Dr. John Parker, head of cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network, and Mount Sinai Hospital, adding that “treating sleep apnea in these patients has become as routine as implanting pacemakers or using defibrillators.”

The research also suggests that there is a strong trend to a reduced death rate for the patients with — who were treated with CPAP. There were no deaths in the group of 14 heart failure patients who had OSA and who were also treated with — for at least three months. Of the 37 patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea, nine patients (24 percent) died. Patients in each group were similar in symptom severity, heart failure therapy, and other factors.

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Tagged as: cardiac disturbances, cardiologists, congestive heart failure, death rates, defibrillators, Dr. Douglas Bradley, Dr. John Parker, heart failure therapy, heart rate, increased blood pressure, Mount Sinai Hospital, obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, pacemakers, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, sleep disorder, Sleep Research Laboratories, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, untreated obstructive sleep apnea