Prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in a heart failure program.

Recent data show that a high percentage of patients with systolic left ventricular dysfunction have sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), contributing to the incidence of morbidity and mortality in heart failure. This study examines the prevalence of sleep disorders in stable heart failure patients regardless of ejection fraction. On three consecutive days in a heart failure clinic, all patients were asked to participate in a screening for SDB.