Respiratory function during sleep in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.

Abstract

The heart rate, respiratory rate and blood gases were followed during the course of electoencephalogram monitored sleep in 19 men with chronic obstructive lung disease. No patient had a greater rise in arterial CO2 tension during sleep than occurs in normal subjects. However, unlike normal subjects, the patients had an average maximum decrease in arterial O2 saturation during sleep of 5%. This maximum decrease tended to occur during the lighter stages of sleep, and the O2 saturation tended to return to normal in the deeper stages of sleep. A significant sleeping tachycardia was observed in the patients with a sleep O2 saturation of less than 85%.