[Relationship between chronic congestive heart failure and sleep-disordered breathing in elderly patients].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in elderly patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) and explore the relations between SDB and left ventricular function.

METHODS: By means of polysomnography, 56 elderly patients with CHF were divided into non-SDB, mild SDB, moderate SDB, and severe SDB groups, and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was measure by (99)Tc equilibrium radionuclide angiography.

RESULTS: In the 56 elderly patients with CHF, 38 (67.9%) had SDB, including 12 (21.4%) mild SDB, 14 (25.0%) moderate SDB, and 12 (21.4%) severe SDB patients. Thirty (53.6%) of the 56 patients with CHF had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), 4 (7.1%) had central sleep apnea and 22 (39.2%) had mixed sleep apnea. The moderate and severe SDB groups had lower minimum arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation during sleep than the non-SDB groups, and the apnea-hyponea index was closely related to LVEF (r=-0.74, P<0.01).

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of SDB, predominantly OSA, is high in elderly patients with CHF. Moderate and severe SDB might affect the left ventricular function in these patients, who require polysomnography monitoring.