• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.24-33
• /
• 2002

Objectives: Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) corrected elevated blood pressure (BP) in some studies of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) but not in others. Such inconsistent results in previous studies might be due to differences in factors influencing the effects of CPAP on BP. The factors referred to include BP monitoring techniques, the characteristics of subjects, and method of CPAP application. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of one night CPAP application on BP and heart rate (HR) reactivity using non-invasive beat-to-beat BP measurement in normotensive and hypertensive subjects with OSAS. Methods: Finger arterial BP and oxygen saturation monitoring with nocturnal polysomnography were performed on 10 OSAS patients (mean age $52.2{\pm}12.4\;years$; 9 males, 1 female; respiratory disturbance index (RDI)>5) for one baseline night and another CPAP night. Beat-to-beat measurement of BP and HR was done with finger arterial BP monitor ($Finapres^{(R)}$) and mean arterial oxygen saturation ($SaO_2$) was also measured at 2-second intervals for both nights. We compared the mean values of cardiovascular and respiratory variables between baseline and CPAP nights using Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Delta ($\Delta$) BP, defined as the subtracted value of CPAP night BP from baseline night BP, was correlated with age, body mass index (BMI), baseline night values of BP, BP variability, HR, HR variability, mean $SaO_2$ and respiratory disturbance index (RDI), and CPAP night values of TWT% (total wake time%) and CPAP pressure, using Spearman's correlation. Results: 1) Although increase of mean $SaO_2$ (p<.01) and decrease of RDI (p<.01) were observed on the CPAP night, there were no significant differences in other variables between two nights. 2) However, delta BP tended to increase or decease depending on BP values of the baseline night and age. Delta systolic BP and baseline systolic BP showed a significant positive correlation (p<.01), but delta diastolic BP and baseline diastolic BP did not show a significant correlation except for a positive correlation in wake stage (p<.01). Delta diastolic BP and age showed a significant negative correlation (p<.05) during all stages except for REM stage, but delta systolic BP and age did not. 3) Delta systolic and diastolic BPs did not significantly correlate with other factors, such as BMI, baseline night values of BP variability, HR, HR variability, mean SaO2 and RDI, and CPAP night values of TWT% and CPAP pressure, except for a positive correlation of delta diastolic pressure and TWT% of CPAP night (p<.01). Conclusions: We observed that systolic BP and diastolic BP tended to decrease, increase or remain still in accordance with the systolic BP level of baseline night and aging. We suggest that BP reactivity by CPAP be dealt with as a complex phenomenon rather than a simple undifferentiated BP decrease.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.47 no.6
• /
• pp.824-835
• /
• 1999

Background: Sleep-related breathing disorders are commonly found in patients with chronic renal failure and particularly, sleep apnea may have an influence on the long-term mortality rates in these patients. Maintenance hemodialysis is the mainstay of medical measures for correcting the metabolic derangements of chronic renal failure but it is uncertain whether it may alleviate sleep disorders including sleep apnea. Methods: Forty seven patients on maintenance hemodialysis were surveyed with the sleep questionnaire about their clinical symptoms related to sleep disorders. Among them, 15 patients underwent the polysomnography and their blood levels of urea nitrogen, creatinine, electrolytes and the arterial blood gases in the nights before and following hemodialysis were measured. Results: Forty(85.1%) of the 47 patients complained of the symptoms associated with sleep-wake cycle disturbances, 55.3% experienced snoring and 27.7% reported witnessed apneas. The duration of REM sleep increased significantly in the nights after hemodialysis compared to the nights without hemodialysis(p<0.05) and the percentage of total sleep time comprising NREM sleep decreased significantly in the nights following hemodialysis compared to the nights before hemodialysis(p<0.05). The percentage of total sleep time consisting of the stage 1 and 2 NREM sleep showed the trend for a decrease in the nights after hemodialysis(p=0.051), while the percentage of total sleep time comprising the stage 3 and 4 NREM sleep did not change between nights. The obstructive sleep apnea was more predominant type than the central one in both nights and there were no differences in the apnea index and the apnea-hypopnea index between the nights. The decrease in the blood level of urea nitrogen, creatinine, potassium and phosphorus was observed after hemodialysis(p<0.05), but the differences of parameters measured during polysomnography between the nights did not correlate with the changes of biochemical factors obtained on the two nights. Arterial blood gas analysis showed that pH was significantly greater in the nights after hemodialysis than in the nights before hemodialysis(p<0.05), but there were no correlations between the parameters examined during polysomnography and the parameters of arterial blood gas analysis(p<0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that chronic renal failure is an important systemic disorder which is strongly associated with sleep disorders. Maintenance hemodialysis, although it is a widely accepted measure to treat chronic renal failure, did not significantly modulate the sleep architecture and the severity of sleep apnea. Thus, taking the patients with chronic renal failure into account, it is advisable to try not only to find a substantial way for correcting metabolic derangements but also to consider the institution of more effective treatments for sleep disorders.