The effect of oxygenation on sleep quality in chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

We recorded the electroencephalogram, electrooculogram, electromyogram, and ear oxygen saturation (SaO2) during sleep in 20 patients with chronic bronchitis and emphysema, 13 of whom had a low arterial PO2 and elevated PCO2 (“blue and bloated”) and 7 of whom had a relatively normal arterial PO2 and PCO2 (“pink and puffing”), and compared the findings in these patients with 9 healthy subjects of similar age. All subjects slept for 2 nights and there was no difference between the groups in the total sleep period. The patients had a lower stable SaO2 than the normal subjects, the “blue and bloated” patients having significantly more hypoxemic episodes during sleep (p < 0.01). Transient nocturnal hypoxemia was commonest during REM sleep in both patients and healthy subjects and its duration was not related to any sleep variable examined. The patients had significantly shorter periods of sleep between the episodes of brief arousal occurring during the night (p < 0.02). Six representative “blue and bloated” pat...