Sleep Apnea Syndrome in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation —2 Cases Whose Atrial Fibrillation Was Controlled by Treatment for Sleep Apnea Syndrome—

A high rate of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) complicated by atrial fibrillation (AF) has been reported. We reviewed the frequency of SAS complications in AF patients, and reported on the patients for whom SAS was considered to be a cause of the AF. We studied 28 patients with AF who were able to receive a sleep apnea examination. All patients had oxygen saturation measured by an ambulatory percutaneus monitor (PULSOX) during sleep. A sleep apnea examination was performed by polysomnograph (Morpheus) in 19 of the patients. There were 18 patients (64%) with moderate to severe SAS whose apnea hypoxia index (AHI) or 3% oxygen disaturation index was more than 20. In this study, AF was stopped by treating SAS with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) in 2 cases. Our study shows a high rate of SAS complications with AF, which is in accord with previous studies. We experienced cases in which AF was stopped by treating SAS with CPAP or NPPV, suggesting it is a cause of AF.