Relationship between sodium intake and sleep apnea in patients with heart failure.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that severity of sleep apnea (SA), assessed by frequency of apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI]), is related to sodium intake in patients with heart failure (HF).


BACKGROUND
Dependent edema and overnight rostral fluid shift from the legs correlate with the AHI in patients with HF in whom excessive sodium intake can cause fluid retention.


METHODS
Sodium intake was estimated by food recordings in 54 HF patients who underwent overnight polysomnography.


RESULTS
Thirty-one of the 54 patients had SA, and their mean sodium intake was higher than that in those without SA (3.0 ± 1.2 g vs. 1.9 ± 0.8 g, p < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the AHI and sodium intake (r = 0.522, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the significant independent correlates of the AHI were sodium intake, male sex, and serum creatinine level.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that in patients with HF, sodium intake plays a role in the pathogenesis of SA.
Sleep Research Laboratory of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Takatoshi
T
Kasai
JoAnne
J
Arcand
Johane P
JP
Allard
Susanna
S
Mak
Eduardo R
ER
Azevedo
Gary E
GE
Newton
T Douglas
TD
Bradley
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000209:etiology*; D012982:Sodium, Dietary / Q000009:adverse effects*
D012982:Sodium, Dietary; D003404:Creatinine