NOCTURNAL OXYGEN DESATURATION IN PATIENTS WITH CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE

Abstract

It's well known that sleep disorder breathing may occur in many diseases. Modifications of the respiratory pattern during sleeping were reported in patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) (1) even if the consequences that such alterations may cause in these subjects are not well known. The most important alterations that compromise the quality of sleep of these patients are presence of "arousals", cardiac rhythm disturbance, oxyhemoglobinic desaturations and the cyclic alterations of ventilation known as "Cheyne-Stokes breathing" or as "periodic breathing" (1, 2). [...]