No abstract

Nasal congestion, dry nose and throat, and sore throat affect approximately 40% of patients using nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). The mechanisms causing nasal symptoms are unclear, but mouth leaks causing high unidirectional nasal airflow may be important. We conducted a study to investigate the effects of mouth leak and the influence of humidification on nasal resistance in normal subjects. Nasal resistance was measured with posterior rhinomanometry in six normal subjects who deliberately produced a mouth leak for 10 min while using nasal CPAP. Nasal resistance was measured regularly for 20 min after the challenge. A series of tests were performed using air at differing temperatures and humidities. There was no change in nasal resistance when subjects breathed through their noses while on CPAP, but a mouth leak caused a large increase in resistance (at a flow of 0.5 L/s) from a baseline mean of 2.21 cm H2O/L/s to a maximum mean of 7.52 cm H2O/L/s at 1 min after the challenge. Use of a cold passover humidifier caused little change in the response (maximum mean: 8.27 cm H2O/L/s), but a hot water bath humidifier greatly attenuated the magnitude (maximum mean: 4.02 cm H2O/L/s) and duration of the response. Mouth leak with nasal CPAP leads to high unidirectional nasal airflow, which causes a large increase in nasal resistance. This response can be largely prevented by fully humidifying the inspired air.

This trial showed no effect of positive airway pressure therapy on glycemic control in patients with relatively well-controlled type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00509223).

No abstract

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is a highly prevalent condition, and is associated with many debilitating chronic diseases. The role of untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in arterial hypertension has been recognized in international guidelines. Treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is associated with clinically-relevant reductions in blood pressure. In heart failure (HF), SDB is associated with worse prognosis and increased mortality. Major HF guidelines recommend that patients should be treated for sleep apnea to improve their HF status. Severe OSA increases the risk of arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation, influences risk management in stroke, and is highly prevalent in patients with type 2 diabetes. Effective treatment with CPAP improves the success of antiarrhythmic interventions, improves outcomes in stroke and reduces hyperglycemia in diabetes. Patients with coronary artery disease also have a high prevalence of SDB, which is independently associated with worse outcomes. The role of CPAP for secondary cardiovascular prevention remains to be determined. Data from large, well-conducted clinical trials have shown that noninvasive ventilation, targeted to markedly reduce hypercapnia, significantly improves survival and reduces readmission in stable hypercapnic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The association of SDB with chronic diseases contributes to the high healthcare costs incurred by SDB patients. SDB also has an important negative impact on quality of life, which is reversed by CPAP treatment. The high prevalence of SDB, and its association with diseases that cause significant morbidity and mortality, suggest that the diagnosis and management of SDB is an important therapeutic goal. First, adherent CPAP treatment significantly improves the quality of life of all patients with SDB; second, it eliminates the negative impact of untreated SDB on any associated chronic diseases; and third, it significantly reduces the increased costs of all hospital and medical services directly associated with untreated SDB. In short, the recognition and treatment of SDB is vital for the continued health and wellbeing of individual patients with SDB.