Overlap syndrome: additive effects of COPD on the cardiovascular damages in patients with OSA.

The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have been recently much focused as independent risks for cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, the complication of both has a worse prognosis compared with patients with only one of these diseases. However, the details of the underlying mechanisms of this worsened prognosis have not been clear.

Obstructive sleep apnea as a potential risk factor for aortic disease.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is not only a cause of hypertension; it also possibly affects the pathogenesis and progression of aortic disease because an inspiratory effort-induced increase in negative intrathoracic pressure generates mechanical stress on the aortic wall. The objective of the present study was to examine the incidence by location of OSA as a complication in patients with aortic aneurysm and patients with aortic dissection (AD). An overnight sleep study was conducted in the following study groups: the aortic disease group (n = 95) consisting of patients with thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA, n = 32), patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA, n = 36), and patients with AD (n = 27); and a control group (n = 32), consisting of patients with coronary risk factors who were matched with the aortic disease group for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI).

Severe obstructive sleep apnea impairs left ventricular diastolic function in non-obese men.

Objective: To evaluate whether obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) contributes directly to left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction.

Methods: Seventy-four non-obese male OSA (apnea hypopnea index (AHI)⩾5/h) patients without cardiac disease, hypertension or diabetes were enrolled. Echocardiography, pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements and laboratory testing were performed in all patients.

Clinical significance of coronary flow velocity measurement using transthoracic Doppler echocardiography for unstable angina: a two-case report.

Clinical significance of coronary flow velocity measurement by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography in 2 patients with unstable angina (UA) was reported. No significant abnormality was observed on electrocardiography. Coronary flow sequence of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) was detected in diastole.

Severe obstructive sleep apnea increases cystatin C in clinically latent renal dysfunction.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and has been reported to be associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recent studies have demonstrated that cystatin C is a prognostic biomarker of the risk of death and CVD even in patients without established CKD.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, we enrolled 267 consecutive OSA patients without CKD who had an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 5 events per hour in overnight polysomnography.

Effects of CPAP therapy on the sympathovagal balance and arterial stiffness in obstructive sleep apnea.

Objective: Increased arterial stiffness and sympathovagal imbalance are noted in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It has been thought that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy can have beneficial effects on the vascular function in such cases. However, it is not yet clear whether the improvement of sympathovagal balance by CPAP might be related to reduction of the arterial stiffness, independent of changes in the blood pressure.

Efficacy of adaptive-servo ventilation (HEART PAP™) for an elderly patient with chronic heart failure who had Cheyne-Stokes respiration with central sleep apnea.

An 82-year-old male patient, who had been diagnosed with chronic heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy and combined valvular disease and who had atrial fibrillation with complete atrioventricular block, was admitted to our hospital owing to the exacerbation of chronic heart failure. During admission, the patient became aware of drowsiness during daytime hours and had periodic apnea during sleep. Polysomnography (PSG) revealed Cheyne-Stokes respiration with severe central sleep apnea as evidenced by an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 93.

New index for analysis of polysomnography, 'integrated area of desaturation', is associated with high cardiovascular risk in patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: Although obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity is evaluated by the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), the value of AHI in evaluating cardiovascular risks, especially in mild to moderate OSA, is unclear.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity of a new index, the integrated area of desaturation (IAD), to detect the incidence of cardiovascular events (CVEs) in such patients.

Methods: We enrolled 230 consecutive patients with mild to moderate OSA and 354 with severe OSA diagnosed by polysomnography, of whom 53 and 112, respectively, had CVEs.

Workplace hypertension is associated with obesity and family history of hypertension.

Job strain, which is a risk for hypertension and increased left ventricular mass, is thought to cause masked hypertension during work even if blood pressure (BP) is normal at health examinations. To study the prevalence of and factors related to workplace hypertension, 265 public officials (mean age, 41.4+/-10.