title: Adaptive servo-ventilation therapy reduces hospitalization rate in patients with severe heart failure.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) therapy is a recently developed non-pharmacological therapy that has been reported to improve cardiac function and survival in patients with severe congestive heart failure (CHF). However, a recent large randomized study suggested that ASV does not improve survival in patients with reduced ejection fraction. It remains unclear whether ASV treatment can reduce the hospitalization rate of CHF patients. We thus examined the frequency of hospital admission before and after initiation of ASV therapy in patients with CHF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hospitalization frequencies during the 12months before and 12months after initiation of ASV therapy (24 consecutive months) were retrospectively compared in 44 consecutive patients with severe CHF. The admission frequency decreased from 1.9±1.4 admissions in the 12months before ASV to 1.1±1.6 admissions in the 12months after ASV initiation (P<0.001). The decrease tended to be greater in those patients with more frequent hospitalizations before ASV initiation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ASV therapy reduces hospital admissions in patients with severe CHF who are receiving maximum medical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital Cardiovascular Center, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Sleep Apnea Center, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan; Cardiology Division Saiseikai Futsukaichi Hospital, Chikushino, Japan. Electronic address: shinando@sleep.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shin-Ichi
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital Cardiovascular Center, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital Cardiovascular Center, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Kie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ebihara
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division Saiseikai Futsukaichi Hospital, Chikushino, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division Saiseikai Futsukaichi Hospital, Chikushino, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital Cardiovascular Center, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taguchi
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division Saiseikai Futsukaichi Hospital, Chikushino, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kadokami
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital Cardiovascular Center, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Kouichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital Cardiovascular Center, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011175:Positive-Pressure Respiration / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome