Telemedicine (TM) as a means of remote patient-physician interaction is gaining popularity in nearly every field, and (respiratory) sleep medicine is no exception. Because obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a chronic condition, and requires a continuous treatment and monitoring of therapy success, telematic communications could be useful to establish diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This Statement summarises the evidence and efficacy of TM options in OSA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) has been considered effective in controlling various forms of central sleep apnoea (CSA) and also any additional obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) component. However, after the publication of the SERVE-HF study, its use was restricted in patients with systolic heart failure (HF) and prevalent CSA, and was withheld from many patients with symptomatic CSA. In the meantime, the devices have been further developed and the algorithms adapted, and there is new evidence from randomised controlled trials and observational studies that makes it necessary to re-evaluate some societies' statements on the use of ASV, especially in patients with HF and CSA and with the current ASV devices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Telemedicine is useful for home management of sleep disordered breathing (SDB). However, the number of patients with SDB is high and public resources are low. The aim of this pilot study, conducted by the Universities of Pisa and Palermo, was to assess whether an external Medical Center, based on telemonitoring, could help in the management of patients on home positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Rev Respir Med
April 2025
Introduction: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) associated with the risk of accidents at work or while driving. OSA treatment decreases EDS, but some patients remain sleepy despite optimal control of OSA. Patients who do not tolerate or refuse OSA treatment may be symptomatically treated for EDS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea is considered a risk factor for sleepiness at the wheel and near-miss accidents (NMA). To date, there are subjective and objective methods such as the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT) to investigate sleepiness. However, these methods have limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEClinicalMedicine
October 2024
Increased oxidative stress within the airways is associated to epithelial damage and amplification of inflammatory responses that in turn contribute to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) progression. This study was aimed to identify whether a new formulation of N-acetylcisteine (NAC), carnitine, curcumin and B2 vitamin could counteract oxidative stress and downstream pro-inflammatory events promoted by cigarette smoke extract (CSE) exposure in primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBEC), both submerged/undifferentiated (S-PBEC) and cultured at the air-liquid interface (ALI-PBEC). PBEC were exposed to CSE with/without the new formulation or NAC alone and ROS production, IL-8 and IL-6 gene expression and protein release were evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOver the past few years, there has been a surge in interest regarding the connection between sleep duration and quality, sleep disorders, mainly Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and Vitamin D. There is growing evidence to support a new role of Vitamin D in the maintenance and regulation of optimal sleep. Furthermore, a notable link has been identified between OSA and a decrease in serum Vitamin D levels, which appears to intensify as the severity of sleep apnea worsens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackgroundAdherence to continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has remained invariably low over the last decades. Remote monitoring of the nocturnal CPAP treatment, within telemedicine (TM)-based follow-up programs, in these patients has been suggested as a potential tool to improve adherence and release the workload of sleep units. The aim of this study was therefore to assess whether a follow-up program carried out by a Remote Medical Care Centre (RMCC), outside the sleep unit, improves adherence to CPAP in the short and long term in patients with OSA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol
May 2024
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with the progression of cardiovascular diseases, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death (SCD). However, the acute impacts of OSA and its consequences on heart function are not yet fully elucidated. We hypothesized that desaturation events acutely destabilize ventricular repolarization, and the presence of accompanying arousals magnifies this destabilization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) can occur in both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep or be limited to REM sleep, when the upper airway is most prone to collapse due to REM sleep atonia. Respiratory events are usually longer and more desaturating in REM than in NREM sleep. The prevalence of REM OSA is higher in women than in men and REM OSA usually occurs in the context of mild-moderate OSA based on the apnoea-hypopnoea index calculated for the entire sleep study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Rev Respir Med
December 2023
Introduction: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), especially obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is commonly associated with respiratory diseases, such as COPD, asthma and interstitial lung disease.
Areas Covered: This narrative review aims to comprehensively synthesize the existing information on SDB in respiratory diseases, investigate the role of gender in this association, and highlight the importance of OSA management in improving sleep, quality of life, and disease prognosis in these specific patient populations.
Expert Opinion: Research indicates a synergistic link between OSA and chronic respiratory diseases, which leads to greater morbidity and mortality compared to each disorder alone.
https://bit.ly/46ghP4g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common disease in the general population, and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and several comorbidities. Obesity favours upper airway collapsibility, but other pathophysiological traits have been identified, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is growing as the population is ageing. However, data on the clinical characteristics of elderly patients with OSA and their adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment are scarce.
Methods: Data from 23 418 30-79-year-old OSA patients prospectively collected into the ESADA database during 2007-2019 were analysed.
We recruited 5,970 hypertensive patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on current antihypertensive treatment from the European Sleep Apnea Database (ESADA) cohort. The group was subdivided into those receiving monotherapy (n = 3,594) and those receiving dual combined therapy (n = 2,376). We studied how major OSA confounders like age, gender, and body mass index as well as the degree of sleep apnea modified office systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleepiness at the wheel (SW) is recognized as an important factor contributing to road traffic accidents, since up to 30 percent of fatal accidents have been attributed to SW. Sleepiness-related motor vehicle accidents may occur both from falling asleep while driving and from behavior impairment attributable to sleepiness. SW can be caused by various sleep disorders but also by behavioral factors such as sleep deprivation, shift work and non-restorative sleep, as well as chronic disease or the treatment with drugs that negatively affect the level of vigilance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF