• Thomas Bitter, Christoph Langer, Jürgen Vogt, Mathias Lange, Dieter Horstkotte, and Olaf Oldenburg.
• Kardiologische Klinik, Herz- und Diabeteszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. akohlstaedt@hdz-nrw.de
• Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2009 Mar 1; 106 (10): 164-70.

BackgroundObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is more common in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). Recently, an additional association between central sleep apnea/Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSA/CSR) and AFib has been described. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and type of sleep-disordered breathing in patients with AFib and normal systolic left ventricular function.Methods150 patients (110 men and 40 women, aged 66.1 +/- 1.7 years) underwent cardiorespiratory polygraphy, capillary blood gas analysis, measurement of NT-proBNP, and echocardiography to determine the diameter of the left atrium (LAD) and the peak systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAP).ResultsSleep-disordered breathing was documented in 74% of all patients with AFib (43% had OSA and 31% had CSA/CSR). Patients with CSA/CSR had a higher PAP, a higher apnea-hypopnea index, a greater LAD, and a lower capillary blood pCO(2) than patients with OSA.ConclusionsPatients with AFib were found to have not only a high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea, as has been described previously, but also a high prevalence of CSA/CSR. It remains unknown whether CSA/CSR is more common in AFib because of diastolic dysfunction or whether phenomena associated with CSA/CSR predispose to AFib. Further research on this question is needed.

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