Effect of Treatment With Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure on Ventilatory Response to Hypoxia and Hypercapnia in Patients With Sleep Apnea Syndrome

The ventilatory response to hypoxia is reduced during regular treatment, but not after short-term treatment, with nCPAP. Readjusted peripheral oxygen chemosensitivity during nCPAP treatment may be a side effect of both reduced sympathetic activity and increased baroreflex activity, or a possible continuous positive airway pressure-related mechanism leading to a reduced activation of autonomic nervous system per se.