Sacubitril–valsartan treatment is associated with decrease in central apneas in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2021.02.012
• Publication Date: 2021-02-11T01:45:55Z
• Authors: Claudio Passino; Paolo Sciarrone; Giuseppe Vergaro; Chiara Borrelli; Jens Spiesshoefer; Francesco Gentile; Michele Emdin; Alberto Giannoni
• Keywords: Sacubitril; Sacubitril, Valsartan; Central sleep apnea

To assess the impact of sacubitril-valsartan on apneic burden in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), 51 stable HFrEF patients planned for switching from an ACE-i/ARB to sacubitril-valsartan were prospectively enrolled.At baseline and after 6 months of treatment, all patients underwent echocardiography, 24-h cardiorespiratory monitoring, neurohormonal evaluation, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. At baseline 29% and 65% of patients presented with obstructive and central apneas, respectively. After 6 months, sacubitril-valsartan was associated with a decrease in NT-proBNP, improvement in LV function, functional capacity and ventilatory efficiency. After treatment, the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) decreased across the 24-h period (p < 0.001), as well as at daytime (p < 0.001) and at nighttime (p = 0.026), proportionally to baseline severity. When subgrouping according to the type of apneas, daytime, nighttime and 24-h AHI decreased in patients with central apneas (all p < 0.01). Conversely, in patients with obstructive apneas, the effect of drug administration was neutral at nighttime, with significant decrease only in daytime events (p = 0.007), mainly driven by reduction in hypopneas.Sacubitril-valsartan on top of medical treatment is associated with a reduction in the apneic burden among a real-life cohort of HFrEF patients. The most marked reduction was observed for central apneas.