September 16, 2003

NEW YORK - Researchers have discovered that in people with obstructive sleep apnea the heart’s left ventricle often becomes enlarged.

In a study conducted by the Intermountain Sleep Disorders Center in Salt Lake City, researchers used ultrasound to measure the hearts of 25 patients with severe OSA before they went on CPAP therapy.

Twenty-three had abnormalities in the structure of their heart and 22 showed left-side enlargement.

The good news is that the dimensions of the heart showed significant improvement in 20 of the patients who complied with continuous positive airway pressure therapy, the team reported. Those who did not stick to the treatment showed no significant change.