The effect of continuous positive airway pressure on heart rate variability during the night in patients with chronic heart failure and central sleep apnoea

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) improves autonomic activity in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and central sleep apnoea (CSA), but its effect on heart rate variability (HRV) during therapy has not been reported. We hypothesized that CPAP may decrease HRV, despite its beneficial effects on sympathetic overactivation, due to the expected stabilization of breathing. Sixty‐seven CHF patients underwent polysomnography (PSG). Ten of them presented with CSA (age 66.1±8.5 years, apnoea‐hypopnea index [AHI]=57.6±23.3, central AHI [cAHI]=41.6±24.6 [mean±SD]) and were subjected to a second PSG with manual CPAP titration. Beat‐to‐beat heart intervals for a 6‐hour period of sleep were extracted from each recording and HRV was analysed. CPAP significantly reduced AHI (AHI=23.1±18.3 P=.004). Standard deviation of normal‐normal interbeat interval (SDNN) (61.5±29.0 vs 49.5±19.3 ms, P=.021), root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) (21.8±9.2 vs 16.4±7.1 ms, P=.042), total power (lnTP=7.8±1.1 vs 7.4±0.8 ms², P=.037), low frequency power (lnLF=5.5±1.5 vs 5.0±1.4 ms², P=.003) and high frequency power (lnHF=4.6±1.0 vs 4.0±1.0 ms², P=.024) were decreased. There was a strong correlation between the decrease in AHI and the decrease in lnHF (Spearman's ρ=.782). CPAP leads to a decrease in spectral and time domain parameters of HRV during therapy in CHF patients with CSA. These changes are best explained by the effect which CPAP‐influenced breathing pattern and lowered AHI exert on HRV.