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A high incidence of nocturnal cardiacrhythm disturbances among patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)syndrome has been described in some reports, but not in others. Wewished to examine the prevalence of significant cardiac rhythmdisturbance in patients with established moderate to severe OSAsyndrome and , in particular, to assess the impact of nasal continuouspositive airway pressure (nCPAP) therapy.

A prospective study of consecutive eligible patients ina dedicated sleep disorders unit of a university teachinghospital.

Holter monitoringwas performed for 18 h in 45 patients with previously diagnosed, OSA syndrome (mean [SD] apnea/hypopnea frequency [AHI] of 50[23]/h) and repeated within 2 to 3 days after institution of n, CPAPtherapy. Investigators were blinded to the patients’ treatmentsduring data analysis. Thirty-five patients were …