The MESAM 4 system, developed to monitor breathing sounds, heart rate, arterial oxygen saturation (Sao2) and body position, was proposed as a screening method for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The aim of the study was to assess the accuracy of hand-scoring versus automatic-scoring in screening for obstructive sleep apnoea. The study population consisted of 56 patients, 51 males, and 5 females...

Measurement of cerebral tissue saturation during obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) may provide additional information to conventional peripheral oxygen saturation. Thirteen subjects with OSA (mean apnoea/hypopnoea index 65.7+/-27.9) were monitored using full polysomnography and monitoring of near-infrared cerebral tissue oxygenation index (TOI). One-thousand and thirty-six apnoeas and hypopnoeas w...

I n the current issue of European Respiratory Journal, in a German multicentre study, SCHULZ et al. [1] report a high frequency of sleep apnoea in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). They also state that obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is more common in patients with heart failure than previously reported. Moving into the field of cardiology, the authors suggest that sleep studies shou...

In adults, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is often associated with metabolic alterations. Although obesity is a major culprit [1], large epidemiological studies have reported a metabolic risk associated with OSA that is independent of obesity. In particular, meta-analyses have shown that effective treatment of OSA by continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) improves glycaemic control in both ...

There is increasing evidence that inflammation plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular complications in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). No previous works have studied levels of soluble tumour necrosis factor-alpha receptor (sTNFR)-1 in patients with OSA. The aims of the present study were to examine serum levels of sTNFR-1 and the effect of nasal continuous po...

A European Respiratory Society research seminar on "Metabolic alterations in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA)" was jointly organised in October 2009 together with two EU COST actions (Cardiovascular risk in the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, action B26, and Adipose tissue and the metabolic syndrome, action BM0602) in order to discuss the interactions between obesity and OSA. Such interactions...

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSA) is a disease very frequently occurring in people with type 2 diabetes, that significantly increases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In a number of studies, OSA has been identified as an independent risk factor for the development of insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Disorders of glucose homeostasis in patients w...

Antioxidant counteraction of oxidative stress has been poorly explored in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Serum albumin is a major antioxidant agent and structural modifications induced by glucose or free radicals impair its antioxidant properties. The aim of the present study was to compare antioxidant capacities and structural changes of albumin in nonobese OSA patients and healthy volunteers...

INTRODUCTION This study aims to evaluate the incidence of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) in severely obese Asians and to study the impact of weight loss on OSA. MATERIALS AND METHODS We report the results of routine preoperative Polysomnograms in 350 Asian patients undergoing bariatric surgery in our institute. Polysomnograms were repeated in 75 randomly selected patients with moderate to sev...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of a 2-month aerobic exercise training programme on C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in non-obese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. Twenty non-obese and sedentary adult male volunteers underwent polysomnography (PSG) to assess their sleep parameters. After the PSG analysis, the subjects were divided into two groups (CTRL, control and OSA, ob...