Impact of untreated sleep apnea on prognosis of patients with congestive heart failure.

128 congestive heart failure (CHF) patients with a median age of 55 years and median left ventricular ejection fraction of 35.4% were followed up for a median period of 35 months. 23 (18%) had no sleep apnea (CHF-N), 55 (43%) had obstructive sleep apnea (CHF-OSA), and 50 (39%) had central sleep apnea (CHF-CSA). At the end of follow-up, mortality was greater in the CHF-CSA group than in the CHF-N group (18.2 vs 6.7/100 person-years, p=0.017). However, after adjusting age and the New York Heart Association functional class central sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea, or the severity of sleep apnea are not predictors for survival in CHF. In addition, the percentages of combined events were not significantly different among three groups. Untreated sleep apnea has no independent impact on the prognosis of patients with CHF.