FAQ:

Sleep Apnea and Heart Failure

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

How common is OSA?

What will happen is OSA is Left Untreated?

What are the signs and symptoms of OSA?

What are the key signs of OSA?

How is OSA treated?

How CPAP Therapy can help?

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a potentially life-altering and life-threatening breathing disorder that occurs during sleep.
• The upper airway repeatedly collapses, causes cessation of breathing (apnea) or inadequate breathing (hypopnea) and sleep fragmentation.
• Sleep fragmentation results in chronic daytime sleepiness.

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How common is OSA?

• 50-60% of patients with impaired cardiac function suffer from sleep related breathing disorders.
• Nearly 30% of patients with severe heart failure suffer from daytime sleepiness.
• 4% of men and 2% of women aged 30-60 meet minimal diagnostic criteria for OSA with excessive daytime sleepiness (an estimated 18 million people). An even greater number of people have subclinical apnea/hypopnea during sleep.
• The majority of OSA sufferers remain undiagnosed and untreated.

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What will happen is OSA is Left Untreated?

• Hypertension
• Cardiac Arrhythmias
• Myocardial Ischemia
• Myocardial Infarction
• Stroke
• Motor Vehicle and work-related accidents due to sleepiness
• Decreased quality of life
• OSA patients, prior to diagnosis and treatment, consume 2-1/2 times more health care resources than patients without OSA.

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What are the signs and symptoms of OSA

Signs and Symptoms

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What are the key signs of OSA?

The key signs and symptoms that indicate a high probability of OSA are:
Excessive daytime sleepiness

PLUS

Disruptive snoring or pauses in breathing (apnea) Or gasping or choking during sleep.

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How to examine of I have OSA?

If a patients signs and symptoms indicate sleep apnea, evaluation by a physician specializing in sleep disorders is recommended.

A sleep study provides information about how a patient breathes and sleeps. The data that is collected will enable the physician to determine the type and severity of sleep apnea and determine treatment options. Also, information about the physiologic consequences of the abnormal breathing events is obtained.

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How is OSA treated?

Primary
Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) therapy is the treatment of choice for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This therapy includes Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), automatic CPAP, and bi-level positive airway pressure.

Secondary
Less common treatments include surgery, body position modification, and oral appliances, which may be effective in certain individuals.

Overall
Any intervention should include lifestyle changes such as weight loss (if needed), good sleep hygiene, and avoidance of alcohol, sedatives and hypnotics.

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How CPAP Therapy can help?

CPAP treats Obstructive Sleep Apnea by providing a gentle flow of positive pressure air via a mask. The positive pressure air splints the airway open during sleep to prevent airway collapse. This results in:

• Elimination of snoring and abnormal breathing events
• Absence of daytime sleepiness or fatigue
• Improved quality of life
• Reduction or elimination of comorbidities, such as hypertension
• Decreased consumption of health care resources.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a serious, potentially life-altering and life-threatening condition that is:

• Easily identified
• Effectively treated

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