The incidence and pathogenesis of right ventricular dysfunction in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) remains controversial. Using nuclear ventriculography, the prevalence of right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) was therefore determined in obese patients with OSA, as well as their clinical characteristics, arterial blood gas values, spirometry and sleep parameters. The reversibility of RVD was evaluated after long-term use of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP).We studied 112 obese patients with OSA by nuclear ventriculography, 35 with RVD (Group 1), 77 without RVD (Group 2), and 14 patients without OSA as controls (Group 3). Repeat nuclear ventriculography was performed in seven patients who used nCPAP nightly for 6-24 months.The mean right ventricular ejection fractions (RVEF) were 31%, 47% and 44% in Groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Group 1 also had a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 55 vs 63% in Group 2. The OSA groups did not differ in mean spirometric or arterial blood gas values. Group 1 had a lower mean nocturnal arterial oxygen saturation (Sa,O 2 ) of 82 vs 87% in Group 2, and a longer apnoea duration of 22.3 vs 19.2 s. All but two patients in Group 1 had either awake alveolar hypoventilation or an apnoea + hypopnoea index >40 disordered breathing events·h -1 . Repeat nuclear ventriculography after nCPAP revealed an increase in RVEF from 30 to 39%.In conclusion, right ventricular dysfunction is common in obstructive sleep apnoea, but it is reversible with nasal continuous positive airway pressure treatment and appears to be related to nocturnal oxygen desaturation. Eur Respir J., 1996, 9, 945- [8]. In patients with OSA, left ventricular failure has been demonstrated to exist in the absence of ischaemic or valvular heart disease, and to be reversible with the long-term use of nasal continuous positive airway pressure [9][10][11][12]. Pulmonary hypertension and cor pulmonale have similarly been reported to be associated with OSA [13][14][15][16], but have been attributed to coexisting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [14,15].In a study of 50 patients with OSA, a 12% incidence of right ventricular failure (RVF) was found on the basis of clinical examination and radiological or electrocardiographic criteria [16]. The authors suggested that a "sustained hypoxaemia and/or hypercapnia over a 24 h period" was a necessary prerequisite for the development of RVF in patients with OSA [16]. Another study of 114 OSA patients reported similar relationships between pulmonary hypertension and obstructive lung disease, but 35% of the patients with pulmonary hypertension were not found to have lower airways obstruction [17].To further define and characterize obese patients with OSA who are at increased risk of right (RVD) and left ventricular dysfunction (LVD), we prospectively investigated the sleep parameters, pulmonary function, arterial blood gas values and radionuclide ejection fractions in 126 patients. The effect of long-term treatment utilizing nCPAP on right and ...