title: Association of sleep-disordered breathing and ventricular arrhythmias in patients without heart failure.
abstract: The prevalence and characteristics of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in patients with ventricular arrhythmias, such as premature ventricular complexes and ventricular tachycardia, are unknown. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of SDB in patients with severe ventricular arrhythmias and normal left ventricular (LV) function. Thirty-five patients (63% men, mean age 57.4 +/- 13.8 years) underwent a sleep study. All patients had ventricular tachycardia or frequent premature ventricular complexes (>or=300/hour) and had been referred to the cardiology department for medication, catheter ablation therapy, or the implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator. Patients with heart failure with LV ejection fractions <50% were excluded; in the remaining patients, the mean LV ejection fraction was 63.9 +/- 8.0%. Twenty-one patients (60%) had SDB with apnea-hypopnea indexes >or=5/hour, and the average apnea-hypopnea index was 22.7 +/- 17.9/hour. Twelve patients (34%) had moderate to severe SDB, with an average apnea-hypopnea index of 33.6 +/- 16.6/hour. Central dominant sleep apnea was evident in 3 patients with SDB. The average age and body mass index were significantly higher in patients with SDB than in those without SDB (age 62.0 +/- 12.8 vs 50.6 +/- 12.7 years, body mass index 26.3 +/- 4.0 vs 21.2 +/- 2.0 kg/m2). In conclusion, this study found a high prevalence of SDB in patients with ventricular arrhythmias and normal LV function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan. y-koshino@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koshino
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Yasuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katayose
authors.forename: Kyo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanigawa
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeyasu
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Iwao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Kazutaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aonuma
mesh_terms: D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013318:Stroke Volume; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology