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Sleep disordered breathing and arrhythmia burden in pacemaker recipients
Margherita Padeletti1, Simone Vignini, Giuseppe Ricciardi
1Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Siena, Siena, Italy. marghepadeletti@yahoo.com
Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology : PACE
|August 26, 2010
Summary
Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is common in pacemaker patients. A new pacemaker can screen for SDB using impedance, potentially improving diagnosis and treatment for these patients.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Sleep Medicine
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is prevalent in patients with permanent pacemakers (PM) and linked to cardiac arrhythmias.
- Limited access and high costs of polysomnography hinder routine SDB screening in PM patients.
- Investigating novel PM technology for SDB screening is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a novel permanent pacemaker (PM) that uses transthoracic impedance to detect breathing patterns.
- To assess the accuracy of PM-derived apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) for SDB screening.
- To determine the association between SDB and cardiac arrhythmias in PM patients.
Main Methods:
- Twenty patients received dual-chamber PM implantation (Talent 3 DR PM).
- PM-derived AHI was calculated using minute ventilation from impedance measurements.
- In-home respiratory monitoring was conducted post-implantation to validate PM-derived AHI.
- Patients were monitored for arrhythmias over a mean of 487 days.
Main Results:
- Eleven patients were diagnosed with SDB via in-home monitoring.
- PM-derived AHI showed similarity to in-home monitoring AHI (16 ± 13 vs 27 ± 14 events/hour, P=0.15).
- No significant difference in cardiac arrhythmia incidence was observed between patients with and without SDB.
Conclusions:
- Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is highly prevalent in patients with permanent pacemakers.
- Screening for SDB using the Talent 3 DR PM may aid in diagnosis and treatment.
- This novel PM technology offers a potential solution for widespread SDB screening.
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