Disordered breathing and hypoxia during sleep in coronary artery disease.

The occurrence of breathing disorders and hypoxia during sleep was studied in 17 male patients with coronary artery disease, demonstrated by coronary angiography, who did not have symptomatic pulmonary disease. Thirteen patients (76 percent) experienced disordered breathing during sleep; of these, 11 had obstructive apnea and the other two had Cheyne-Stokes breathing. There was an average of 20 episodes of disordered breathing per hour during sleep among the 13 patients, with a mean duration of 24 seconds per episode; significant oxygen desaturation occurred in ten of these 13 patients. There was no episode of angina pectoris, myocardial infarction or sudden death. Although cardiac arrhythmias occurred in 12 patients, disordered breathing with hypoxia was not proven to be causative. Therefore, obstructive disordered breathing and nocturnal oxygen desaturation commonly occurred during sleep in patients with coronary artery disease. Although no immediate ill effects were noted, the longterm effects remain to be determined.