ASSESSMENT OF THE NOCTURNAL BLOOD-PRESSURE RELATIVE TO SLEEP STAGES IN PATIENTS WITH OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP-APNEA

To determine the mean blood pressure relative to sleep stages, two noc turnal cardiorespiratory polysomnographs were recorded in 60 male pati ents with hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The mean age was 50.2 years, the BMI 32.0 kg/m(2), the respiratory disturbance ind ex (RDI) 44, and the blood pressure by the WHO protocol 158/98 mm Hg. A new evaluation program was used to determine the invasively measured mean arterial pressure (mean +/- SEM) and heart rate (mean +/- SEM) d uring sleep (mean total sleep time 361 +/- 48 min) referred to sleep s tages 1 (99.5 +/- 1.5 mm Hg/67.6 +/- 1.1 bpm), 2 (98.7 +/- 1.6 mm Hg/6 6.6 +/- 1.1 bpm), 3 (97.6 +/- 1.8 mm Hg/67.4 +/- 1.3 bpm), and 4 (97.6 +/- 2.2 mm Hg/66.3 +/- 1.6 bpm) and to REM sleep (103.3 +/- 1.7 mm Hg /68 +/- 1.2 bpm) as 1 s mean values and to compare them with the wakin g state (98.3 +/- 1.6 mm Hg/83.6 +/- 1.1 bpm). There was no physiologi cal fall in blood pressure in patients with pronounced OSA. Sleep-stag e-specific analysis of invasive continuous blood pressure signals is t he gold standard. The sleep structure is disturbed less than with othe r methods.