Pulmonary artery pressure in sleep apnoea and snoring.

There is a renewed interest in pulmonary hypertension (PH) complicating obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The prevalence of PH in populations of patients with less severe OSA was documented to be around 10%. The most recent data from both catheterization and echocardiographic studies indicate that as many as 40% of patients with OSA have PH. It has been shown that non-obese patients with normal respiratory function tests can develop pulmonary hypertension. One of the other possible mechanisms involved may be the presence of heightened pulmonary artery pressure response to hypoxia. There are now data available to indicate that treatment with nasal CPAP can decrease or even normalize pulmonary artery pressure in patients with sleep apnoea.