Obstructive sleep apnea, CPAP treatment and bradyarrhythmias: close relationship or simple coincidence? A brief review based on case series

Abstract

During the last decades the interest about sleep-related disordered breathing (SDB) has increased, due principally to several studies showing their involvement in cardiovascular disease. The key role of the sleep in one’s life is linked to its effects on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Sleep apnea syndromes (SAS) are characterized by several nightly apneic events; during these events there is the absence or a considerable reduction of the airflow with consequent oxyhemoglobin desaturation and arousal, causing microawakening and sleep fragmentation that represent, along with hypoxemia, important harmful triggers on the cardiovascular system. The impact of sleep apnea in patients with cardiovascular disease is relevant to worsen the cardiac clinical features. For the clinician it is the important to know the sleep apnea syndrome and its impact on cardiac patients regarding its negative effects; in fact, in selected patients sleep apnea should be detected, above all regarding the positive effects of its treatment.