Objectives: The effect of long-term adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) on cardiovascular mortality and admission rates in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) has not been much studied. The aim of this study was primarily to investigate whether ASV therapy significantly reduced these parameters.
Design: We included 75 CHF patients on optimal medication and CSR ≥25% of sleeping time, in New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes II-IV and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 45%. Thirty-one patients were treated with ASV for >3-18 months and 44 patients served as a control group.
Results: Seven deaths (16%) in the control group and one death (3%) in the ASV treatment group had cardiovascular etiology. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding cardiovascular death (log rank p = 0.07; HR 0.18 (95% CI 0.02-1.44), p = 0.11) and combined cardiovascular death or readmissions, but there was a trend toward better outcome regarding cardiovascular event-free survival (log rank p = 0.06; HR 0.53 (95% CI 0.27-1.05).
Conclusions: In CHF patients with CSR, 18 months ASV treatment did not significantly affect cardiovascular death or combined cardiovascular death or hospital admissions. But there was a trend toward better combined outcome.
Keywords: Heart failure; adaptive servo-ventilation; mortality.