Letters
Cardiovascular diseases
Volume 180 - Issue 3

Heart failure: how can we prevent the epidemic?

Authors:  Matthew T Naughton, Darren R Mansfield, David M Kaye, Peter Bergin and Meroula Richardson

Med J Aust 2004; 180 (3): 143. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2004.tb05846.x
Published online: 2 February 2004
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Matthew T Naughton,* Darren R Mansfield,* David M Kaye,† Peter Bergin,† Meroula Richardson†

* Respiratory Physician, † Cardiologist, Alfred Hospital, PO Box 315, Prahran, VIC 3181. m.naughtonATalfred.org.au

To the Editor: We were surprised that Campbell’s recent article on heart failure1 made no mention of sleep apnoea. This is despite the fact that about 50% of heart failure patients have sleep apnoea (either central or obstructive) and that quite a large body of literature now supports a causative relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea and congestive heart failure, supported by recent authoritative reviews. 2-4 Canine studies have shown that, in the absence of any other variable, obstructive sleep apnoea results in left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction.

Importantly, the impact of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in acute cardiogenic pulmonary oedema and subacute pulmonary oedema (central sleep apnoea) and heart failure in the setting of obstructive sleep apnoea are not mentioned. Identification and treatment of sleep apnoea in people with heart failure is supported by a trial we have recently conducted in which significant improvements in quality of life and objective markers of cardiac function were seen in patients treated with nasal CPAP.5

Authors

  • Matthew T Naughton1
  • Darren R Mansfield1
  • David M Kaye
  • Peter Bergin
  • Meroula Richardson
  • 1. Alfred Hospital, PO Box 315, Prahran, VIC 3181.

Correspondence: m.naughton@alfred.org.au

References

View this article on Wiley Online Library