Acute improvement of pulmonary hemodynamics does not alleviate Cheyne-Stokes respiration in chronic heart failure-a randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover trial.

Objectives: This randomized, controlled trial aimed to investigate whether acute improvement of pulmonary congestion would reduce the severity of Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

Methods: Twenty-one consecutive patients with CHF and CSR (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] ≥15/h) underwent right heart catheterization with titration of intravenous (IV) glyceryltrinitrate (GTN) to a maximum tolerable dosage and inhalation of iloprost 10 μg/mL after a washout phase. Maximum tolerable dosages of GTN and iloprost were randomly applied during full cardiorespiratory polysomnography within two split-night procedures and compared with IV or inhaled sodium chloride (NaCl) 0.