Breathing Disorders in Patients With Congestive Heart Failure

Bakground: There is little information in sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in women with congestive heart failure (CHF). We studied consecutive CHF patients in order to compare SDB characteristics according to gender, and to determine overall mortality impact of SDB and Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) while awake. Methods: Eighty nine consecutive outpatients (29 female) with stable CHF (LVEF\<45%) were prospectively evaluated. The presence of SDB, as characterized by obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and CSR during sleep, as well as CSR while awake before sleep onset, were investigated by overnight polysomnography.