Cardiac Complications, Heart Failure Lead to Sleep Apnea: Obstructive & Central

Cardiac complications extend into a variety of health issues, including impaired sleep. For most cardiac patients, sleep irregularity is easily resolved with the right medication management. For some, however, there is continued disturbance of sleep, leading to even greater risks and complications on the cardiovascular system.

Heart failure is a leading cause of sleep disturbance. Of the many types of sleep complications experienced by patients with heart failure, the development of sleep apnea is the most complex. With changes to sleep, the heart failure patient is at risk for suffering from both obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, as well as central sleep apnea, CSA.

As a cyclic even, sleep apnea affects not only the cardiovascular system but also the respiratory system, the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. Therefore, when obstructive sleep apnea is present, often, the complications will lead to central sleep apnea which then leads back to obstructive sleep apnea. In heart failure patients, this cycle needs to be managed.

If you suffer from a cardiac complication, including that of heart failure, it is important to manage your sleep cycles. Because central sleep apnea often arises from low carbon dioxide levels, patients with heart failure often experience central sleep apnea as the first sleep disorder. However, in some heart failure patients, especially those where obstructive sleep apnea may have been a complication before heart failure, the onset of OSA may occur during the early evening hours, progressing to CSA in the late hours of sleep.