Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
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Review
Comorbid insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea: challenges for clinical practice and research.
To review studies examining the cooccurrence of insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), explore evidence for the effect of OSA therapy on insomnia symptoms and the effect of insomnia treatments on breathing and sleep in patients with OSA, and discuss challenges in the evaluation and treatment of comorbid insomnia and OSA. ⋯ Insomnia and OSA frequently cooccur. The optimal strategy for adequately treating comorbid insomnia and OSA remains unclear. Future research examining the impact of insomnia on continuous positive airway pressure therapy is needed. Given the substantial overlap in symptoms between insomnia and OSA, evaluation and treatment of these 2 conditions can be challenging and will require multidisciplinary collaboration among sleep specialists.
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To compare health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) across subgroups defined by sleep disturbances and ethnicity. ⋯ Across ethnic/racial subgroups, sleep disturbances are associated with worse physical and better mental HR-QOL than the U.S. norm, but this relationship may be moderated by comorbid health conditions. This study replicates and extends prior research indicating differences among minority and non-minority participants and highlights the need for future studies of sleep disturbances with larger samples of minorities that control for comorbid health conditions.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Empiric auto-titrating CPAP in people with suspected obstructive sleep apnea.
Efficient diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can be difficult because of time delays imposed by clinic visits and serial overnight polysomnography. In some cases, it may be desirable to initiate treatment for suspected OSA prior to polysomnography. Our objective was to compare the improvement of daytime sleepiness and sleep-related quality of life of patients with high clinical likelihood of having OSA who were randomly assigned to receive empiric auto-titrating continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) while awaiting polysomnogram versus current usual care. ⋯ Empiric auto-CPAP resulted in symptomatic improvement of daytime sleepiness and sleep-related quality of life in a cohort of patients awaiting polysomnography who had a high pretest probability of having OSA. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the applicability of empiric treatment to other populations.
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Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been established as an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Recently, several auto-CPAP devices that can detect upper airway obstructive events and provide information about residual events while patients are on CPAP have come into clinical use. The purpose of this study was to compare the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) determined by the S8 auto-CPAP device with the AHI derived by polysomnography in patients with OSAHS. ⋯ Using the same airflow signals as those of the CPAP device, a strong correlation between the AHI-PSG and the AHI-S8 was observed. However, the correlation was weakened when the analysis was limited to the HI.
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A 39-year-old man with a history of poorly controlled hypertension presented with a 2-year history of fatigue, daytime somnolence, and intermittent episodes of diaphoresis and palpitations. Episodes were self-limiting, lasting approximately 5-10 minutes and occurred several times per month, most notably at night. Laboratory evaluation was significant for elevated 24-h urinary catecholamine levels, suggestive of pheochromocytoma. ⋯ Subsequent polysomnography revealed severe obstructive sleep apnea, with an apnea-hypopnea index of 112 events/h. After one month of continuous positive airway pressure therapy, the patient experienced resolution of his presenting symptoms, improved blood pressure control and normalization of his urinary catecholamine levels. This case highlights sleep disordered breathing as a potentially reversible cause of pseudopheochromocytoma.