Breathing rate variability in obstructive sleep apnea during wakefulness.

Study Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is defined by pauses in breathing during sleep, but daytime breathing dysregulation may also be present. Sleep may unmask breathing instability in OSA that is usually masked by behavioral influences during wakefulness. A breath-hold (BH) challenge has been used to demonstrate breathing instability.

Beat-to-beat blood pressure variability in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Study Objectives: Cardiovascular comorbidities in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are difficult to treat, perhaps due to autonomic dysfunction. We assessed beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) variability (BPV) in OSA while considering other markers derived from electrocardiogram and continuous BP signals.

Methods: We studied 66 participants (33 participants with OSA: respiratory event index [mean ± SEM]: 21.