[Cardiac pacemaker implantation in unrecognized obstructive sleep apnea syndrome].

A cardiac pacemaker was implanted because of nocturnal sinus arrhythmia into a 53-year-old man with hypersomnia. After other patients had reported loud snoring and breathing pauses, which appeared to be dangerously long, polysomnography was performed. It indicated a marked obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome with an apnoea index of 55 and an average apnoea duration of 35 seconds. The nocturnal cardiac arrhythmias disappeared under continuous nasal raised pressure ventilation.