CHF and CSR Improvement with ASV

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is among the most devastating and debilitating chronic health conditions in the US. Patients with CHF suffer from a weak heart muscle, usually as a result of longstanding high blood pressure and/or heart attack(s). Because the heart muscle performs poorly, patients suffer from shortness of breath, poor exercise tolerance, cardiac arrhythmias, and fluid retention. Over time, CHF patients require multiple medications, supplemental oxygen, extensive medical testing & specialist visits, implanted defibrillators,and repeated hospitalizations. The vast majority of CHF patients, however, also suffer from underlying (usually undiagnosed) sleep apnea. Many actually experience advanced and severe sleep apnea, known as periodic breathing. This article demonstrates that when CHF patients with periodic breathing are treated with a special sleep apnea machine called ASV, they experience much better management of their heart ailment and less need for the implanted defibrillator.