[A case of sleep apnea syndrome with variant angina]

A 56-year-old male was admitted because of respiration arrest during sleep, and precordial crushing sensation which repeatedly occurred early in the morning. He had been hypertensive and aware of daytime sleepiness for ten years. After admission, all night polysomnography was recorded a total of four times. Apnea index was 37.5 times/hour, and central type apnea was predominant. The diagnosis of sleep apnea syndrome was made. In the early morning of the fourteenth day after admission, the patient developed anterior chest pain associated with ST elevation in leads II, III, and aVF of the electrocardiogram. Thus, the case was thought to be complicated by variant angina. There were no anginal attacks during the all night polysomnography recordings. However, a causal relationship between the sleep apnea and variant anginal attacks was suspected. Since both the sleep apnea and the variant anginal attacks tended to occur during the stages of REM sleep, and they are both related to changes in activity of the autonomic nervous system. It was considered that hypoxemia following sleep apnea and/or the hyperventilation after the apneic episodes might be the cause of the variant anginal attacks.