2/19/2007 - People with pacemakers often have undiagnosed sleep apnea March 17, 2007—Many people who need pacemakers to regulate their heartbeat also have sleep apnea that has not been diagnosed, according to a study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers found that 59 percent of people with pacemakers also had sleep apnea. And of those with sleep apnea, 21 percent had a severe form of the condition—characterized by 30 or more periods of interrupted breathing each hour during sleep. “Because of the excessive prevalence of undiagnosed sleep apnea, we found it could be recommended that all patients referred for a pacemaker should first be screened for sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease,” said Patrick Levy, M.D., senior author of the study and a professor at Grenoble University in Grenoble, France. The study involved 98 people, average age 64, from France, Britain and Belgium. All of the people had pacemakers, but none had been diagnosed with sleep apnea when the study began. Researchers screened people for sleep apnea with a device that records breathing and sleep. Researchers said they could not determine if the sleep apnea preceded the pacemaker implantation or if it developed after pacemaker therapy began. Dr. Levy said that treating sleep apnea with weight loss, smoking cessation and continuous positive airway pressure might eliminate the need for pacing. However, he added that additional studies are needed to come up with the most effective treatment strategy for people who have both a pacemaker and sleep apnea. Back