• Barbara Monika Schlosser, Jörg Werner Walther, Kurt Rasche, Torsten Thomas Bauer, Maritta Orth, Justus de Zeeuw, Gerhard Schultze-Werninghaus, and Hans-Werner Duchna.
• Medizinische Klinik III, Pneumologie, Allergologie Schlaf- und Beatmungsmedizin, Berufsgenossenschaftliche Kliniken Bergmannsheil, Klinikum der Ruhr-Universität, Bochum.
• Med Klin. 2006 Feb 15; 101 (2): 107-13.

Background And PurposeObstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is regarded as a cardiovascular risk factor. Therefore, cardiopulmonary exercise capacity in patients with OSAS before and under treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was investigated.Patients And MethodsCardiopulmonary exercise capacity was investigated in 36 patients with untreated OSAS using spiroergometry. A follow-up after at least 6 months was performed in 17 of these patients being treated with CPAP and in eight CPAP-neglecting patients, who served as controls.ResultsMaximum oxygen uptake ( O(2max)) was significantly reduced in all 36 patients with untreated OSAS (17.68 +/- 6.1 ml/min/kg) compared with reference values (30.72 +/- 4.9 ml/min/kg; p < 0.001). After an average of 305.7 +/- 104.8 nights of CPAP therapy, O(2max) rose from 15.33 +/- 4.8 to 18.53 +/- 6.9 ml/min/kg, whereas O(2max) remained unchanged in controls. Further spirometric parameters of exercise capacity as well as arterial blood pressure were also significantly improved under CPAP therapy.ConclusionCardiopulmonary exercise capacity is markedly reduced in patients with OSAS. Long-term CPAP therapy leads to a significant improvement of reduced cardiopulmonary exercise capacity in these patients.

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