[Effect of obstructive sleep apnea on preload of the right heart]

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by a total inspiratory occlusion of the extrathoracic airways with persisting respiratory effort. During obstructive breathing efforts the intrathoracic pressure (ITP) falls below-20 Torr. This should augment venous return by depleting the blood from the extrathoracic veins into the thoracic veins, thus pre- and afterload of the right heart rises. Until now preload of the right heart during OSA was not measured. This study shows the filling pressures (tmPRA) of the right heart during OSA. In five patients the in- and expiratory right atrial pressure and the intrathoracic pressure were measured, beat by beat, during the non REM hour in which the most apnea episodes occurred. The tmPRA values were calculated as follows: tmPRA = PRA-ITP. The rising tmPRA with falling ITP shows that the venous return, during apnea episodes, rises mostly unhampered. Only in one patient did a cut-off of the increasing tmPRA occur. This patient showed a flow limitation of venous return. Two more patients developed different trends. One part of the measurements led to a linear increase of tmPRA, the other part shows a plateau up from a certain ITP. In two patients tmPRA increases linearly, in the extreme, with decreasing ITP. This indicates no flow limitation of venous return. The results of this investigation suggest that the protective mechanism of the limitation of venous return, occurring under artificial conditions, does not regularly appear in patients with OSA. This leads to repetitive volume overloads of the right heart.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)