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BY-NC-ND 3.0 license Open Access Published by De Gruyter Open Access December 16, 2010

LABA in patients with stage I COPD and mild sleep apnea syndrome: a pilot study

  • Ivan Kopitovic EMAIL logo , Marija Kojicic , Mirjana Drvenica and Miroslav Ilic
From the journal Open Medicine

Abstract

Patients suffering from both sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a more severe form of sleep apnea. Knowing all pathophysiological aspects that mutually interact in sleep disorders and COPD, we aimed to investigate if the introduction of long-acting β2 agonists (LABA) during the night could improve overnight oxygenation and the ability to perform daily activities in stage I COPD patients with mild SAHS. We conducted a prospective study of 22 patients with stage I COPD and SAHS confirmed by overnight polygraph screening, without nocturnal CPAP treatment. During twelve weeks, all patients used LABA (salmeterol 50 mcg) with a metered dose inhaler before bedtime. The levels of apnea hypopnea index, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and Epworth daytime sleepiness scale (ESS) were recorded before and after the treatment. There was a significant improvement of lowest and average overnight oxygenation compared to baseline (mean difference 2.1±0.42, p<0.0001; 1.7±0.3, p<0.0001, respectively). In addition, patients reported reduction in daytime sleepiness according to ESS (mean difference 1.23±0.51; p=0.03). Fewer patients exhibited tachycardia when on salmeterol (68 vs. 41%; p=0.01). Use of inhaled salmeterol improves overnight oxygenation in patients with stage I COPD and SAHS. Future prospective studies are warranted to confirm this potentially beneficial effect of long-acting β2 agonists.

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Published Online: 2010-12-16
Published in Print: 2011-2-1

© 2010 Versita Warsaw

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

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