Abstract
Central sleep apnea (CSA) is a common, though often unrecognized, finding in congestive heart failure (HF) patients that is associated with poor quality of life and increased morbidity and mortality. While various treatment strategies, including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, have been devised and tested to treat CSA in HF, none thus far have been proven effective over the long term or been shown to improve survival. Adaptive pressure support servo-ventilation (ASV) is a promising potential new therapy for CSA, but like its predecessor, CPAP, it is often not well tolerated by patients, and results from clinical trials evaluating its long-term effectiveness in reducing morbidity and mortality are still a number of years off. Recently, a new therapy utilizing unilateral transvenous phrenic nerve stimulation has been introduced to treat CSA in HF. As a totally implantable, device-based therapy, it may be better tolerated than CPAP or ASV in HF patients and, thus, improve patient compliance with treatment. Early studies using this therapy have been encouraging, with patients demonstrating significant improvement in major indices of CSA severity.
Zusammenfassung
Die zentrale Schlafapnoe (CSA) ist ein häufiger, aber oft verkannter Befund bei Patienten mit kongestiver Herzinsuffizienz (HF), der mit schlechter Lebensqualität sowie erhöhter Morbidität und Mortalität einhergeht. Es wurden zwar verschiedene Therapiestrategien gegen CSA bei HF inklusive CPAP-Therapie („continuous positive airway pressure“) entwickelt und erprobt, aber keine ist bisher über lange Zeit wirksam oder verbessert das Überleben. Die ASV-Therapie („adaptive pressure support servo-ventilation“) ist ein vielversprechender neuer Ansatz bei CSA, wird aber wie ihr Vorgänger, CPAP, oft nicht gut von den Patienten toleriert, und von Ergebnissen klinischer Studien zur Langzeitwirksamkeit in Bezug auf die Verminderung der Morbidität und Mortalität sind wir noch Jahre entfernt. Kürzlich wurde eine neue Therapie gegen CSA bei HF vorgestellt, bei welcher der N. phrenicus einseitig transvenös stimuliert wird. Das vollständig implantierbare Gerät wird möglicherweise besser von den HF-Patienten toleriert als CPAP oder ASV und könnte die Compliance somit verbessern. Erste Studien zu diesem Ansatz sind ermutigend, denn die Patienten wiesen eine signifikante Verbesserung wesentlicher Indizes des Schweregrads der CSA auf.
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Augostini, R. A novel approach to the treatment of central sleep apnea in patients with heart failure. Herzschr. Elektrophys. 23, 9–13 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00399-011-0165-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00399-011-0165-7