Respiratory drive in patients with chronic heart failure and central sleep apnea: Data from the Daunia Heart Failure Registry

The prevalence of sleep disorders breathing (SDB) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) is relevantly high. According to prior studies, SDB is present in about 50% of patients with CHF and, among these, a great part are affected by Cheyne-Stokes Breathing (CSB) [ 1 , 2 ]. The presence of CSB in patients with CHF is considered to be an independent risk factor for increased overall mortality [ 3 ]. CSB usually occurs during non-REM sleep when chemical control of breathing predominates and is characterized by oscillations in tidal volume; alterations of respiratory control system are considered as related to decreased PaO 2, increased PaCO 2, circulatory delay, and reductions in systemic oxygen transport [ 4 ]. Thus, CSB does not simply characterize subjects with severe HF, but modifications of peripheral chemoreceptors consequent to HF seem to be involved in the genesis of this respiratory pattern [ 5 ].