Effect of doxapram on obstructive sleep apnea.
To determine whether treatment with a respiratory stimulant, doxapram hydrochloride, would improve obstructive sleep apnea, we administered the drug to four patients with this disease. Subjects were given a bolus of doxapram, 0.5 mg X kg-1 lean body mass, followed by a 1 mg X min-1 infusion throughout the night on one night and placebo another night. Doxapram produced improvement in the average oxyhemoglobin desaturation during apneic and hypopneic episodes and decreased average apnea length, but did not change the average number of oxyhemoglobin desaturations per hour of sleep or sleep efficiency. We conclude that doxapram, when administered at levels known to increase ventilatory drive, does not decrease the number of disordered breathing events during sleep but does cause termination of these events at higher levels of oxyhemoglobin saturation.
P M
PM
Suratt
S C
SC
Wilhoit
E D
ED
Brown
L J
LJ
Findley
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004315:Doxapram / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000187:drug effects
D010108:Oxyhemoglobins; D004315:Doxapram