Central sleep apnea - Treatment

Alternative Names

Sleep apnea - central

Treatment:

Oxygen, nasal CPAP, or bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) may be used for some types of central sleep apnea.

Some types of central sleep apnea are treated with drugs that stimulate breathing.

Patients should avoid the use of any sedative medications.

If central sleep apnea is due to heart failure, the goal is to treat the heart failure itself. See: Heart failure

Expectations (prognosis):

How well a patient does depends on the medical condition causing the central sleep apnea.

The outlook is usually favorable in those with idiopathic central sleep apnea.

Complications:

Complications may result from the underlying disease causing the central sleep apnea.

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if you have symptoms of sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea is usually diagnosed in patients who are already severely ill.

Reviewed last on: 8/5/2011
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Eckert DJ, Jordan AS, Merchia P, Malhotra A. Central sleep apnea: pathophysiology and treatment. Chest. 2007;131:595-607.

Malhotra A. Disorders of ventilatory control. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 86.

Pien GW, Pack AI. Sleep disordered breathing. In: Mason RJ, Broaddus VC, Martin TR, et al, eds. Murray and Nadel’s Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 79.

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