Sleep disordered breathing is an independent risk factor for left atrial enlargement in patients with congestive heart failure

Left atrial enlargement (LAE) is an independent predictor of stroke and death . In patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) LAE has a high prevalence . Several conditions such as left ventricular remodeling, mitral regurgitation and atrial fibrillation (AF) are known to cause LAE in CHF patients. Lately attention has grown on the high prevalence of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in CHF patients . SDB is also associated with poor prognosis in patients with CHF. We investigated 234 consecutive CHF patients to evaluate whether there is a relation between LAE and SDB.
Source: International Journal of Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Letters to the Editor Source Type: research