Nocturnal oxygen enrichment in sleep apnoea.

We hypothesized that a modest oxygen enrichment, rather than 100% oxygen supplementation as used in previous trials, could result in improvement in ventilatory and cardiac symptoms, in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), without jeopardizing the chemostimulant ventilatory drive. This hypothesis was tested in five male patients with OSA in a single-blinded trial consisting of one night spent sleeping in control room air (control night), followed by one night spent sleeping while exposed to air with a 9% enriched oxygen content (oxygen-enriched night). Oxygen enrichment resulted in a significant shift in the oxygen saturation profile towards values of > or = 95% and to decrease desaturation dips throughout the night. The apnoea index decreased from the control night to the oxygen-enriched night from 52.7 +/- 10.4 to 38.9 +/- 9.3; the decrease being greatest for the longest apnoeas (> or = 30 s). Additionally, the cardiovascular status improved. No signs of depressed chemostimulant drive in the oxygen-enriched night were detected. We conclude that nocturnal oxygen enrichment merits consideration for therapeutic trial in the prevention of long apnoeic and desaturation episodes.