摘要：

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects around 4% of middle-aged men (Young et al 1993). With this high prevalence of OSA and the rising worldwide increase in morbidity and mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (WHO 2000), it is not surprising that research attentions have focused on the overlap between these two highly prevalent conditions with the aim of determining their relationship. A number of studies have investigated the association between OSA and COPD. In patients with COPD, studies have shown that as the depth of sleep increases so there is a reduction in minute ventilation with an increase in upper airway resistance (Ballard et al 1995) with up to 20% patients with severe COPD exhibiting co-existent OSA (Brander et al 1992). Although the Sleep Heart Health Study (Sanders et al 2003) found that OSA prevalence was not increased in mild COPD, undiagnosed airways obstruction can be present in ≥10 percent of patients with OSA (Lin and Huang 1992). These observations may simply reflect that the clinical relevance of the overlap between COPD and OSA only become apparent when one or both of these conditions are severe.

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