ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the curative effect of continuous airway positive pressure ventilation (CPAP) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and cough syncope. Methods Forty-three hospitalized patients with OSAHS and cough syncope were collected in the Department of Respiration of Tianjin General Hospital, and analyzed the related information. They were given CPAP treatment, and were divided into good compliance group (n=26) and poor compliance group (n=17) according to CPAP compliance after a half-year treatment. The apnea hypoventilation index (AHI) and c-reactive protein (CRP) were compared before and after treatment between two groups. Results The positive correlation was found between the frequency of the cough syncope and indicators of OSAHS, such as AHI, body mass index (BMI), CRP, sleepiness score (ESS) and circumference of abdomen and neck (r=0.612, 0.431, 0.224, 0.654, 0.435 and 0.344,P<0.05). All these patients were cured after the treatment of both CPAP and medication for 1 or 2 weeks. During a half-year follow-up, the cough syncope didn’t occur in those patients of good compliance group, otherwise cough syncope still happened but with less frequency in patitents of poor compliance group. Before the treatment , there was no significant difference in AHI (45.00±15.69 vs. 48.70±16.47) and CRP (3.46± 1.15 vs. 3.38±0.72) between the two groups. After treatment, AHI (26.97±14.06 vs. 48.18±15.96) and CRP (1.56±0.76 vs. 3.18± 0.78) were significantly lower in the good compliance group than those of the poor compliance group (P<0.01). Conclusion Timely and sustained treatment of OSAHS may help reduce the incidence of cough syncope and significantly improve AHI, CRP and cough symptoms.