Purpose The purpose of this article is to review the recent literature on central apnea. Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is characterized by apneas (cessation in breathing), and hypopneas (reductions in breathing), that occur during sleep. Central sleep apnea (CSA) is sleep disordered breathing in which there is an absence or diminution of respiratory effort during breathing disturbances while asleep. In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), on the other hand, there is an absence of flow despite ongoing ventilatory effort. Recent Findings Central sleep apnea is a heterogeneous disease with multiple clinical manifestations. Summary OSA is by far the more common condition; however, CSA is highly prevalent among certain patient groups. Complex sleep apnea (CompSA) is defined as the occurrence/emergence of CSA upon treatment of OSA. Similarly, there is considerable overlap between CSA and OSA in pathogenesis as well as impacts. Thus, understanding sleep disordered breathing is important for many practicing clinicians.

Many patients with cardiac disease undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR) have concomitant obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is associated with pulmonary hypertension (PH). We evaluated the impact of PH and OSA on CR outcomes. Using data from 290 patients participating in CR, we concluded that treating OSA in patients with PH may be associated with improved CR outcomes.

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