Efficacy of fluoxetine in treatment of patients with the obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome / 中国临床药理学与治疗学

ABSTRACT

AIM: To evaluate the response of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) to fluoxetine. METHODS: After a baseline polysomnography (PSG) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) documented OSAHS, 10 patients were treated with fluoxetine (20 mg?d -1 ) for four weeks, a repeating PSG and ESS was performed to evaluate the action of fluoxetine. RESULTS: After 4 weeks fluoxetine treatment, the proportion of REM sleep time was decreased by 9.2 %, and the assessment of ESS was significantly decreased (P 0.05 ). The apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) fell in average 24.84 per hour,the mean SaO 2 and minimum SaO 2 significantly increased by 3.2 % and 16.6 %, respectively, and desaturation event index significantly decreased 18.24 per hour (P 0.05 ). The treatment efficiency of fluoxetine to OSAHS was 50%. CONCLUSION: Short term use of fluoxetine in patients with OSAHS is associated with better sleep quality, improvement in oxygenation,and reduction of episodic apneas or hypopneas.