Is untreated essential hypertension associated with excessive arterial hypoxaemia compared to normotensive controls in men aged 35-65?
Mild to moderate essential hypertension in men is not associated with excessive nocturnal hypoxaemia indicative of sleep apnoea syndrome.
Thirty men (aged 35-65) with untreated essential hypertension (BP greater than or equal to 140/90), confirmed by 24-h ambulatory monitoring, had overnight recordings of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) in their own homes. The overnight saturation records were compared with those from a group of 30 normotensive control subjects matched for age, height and weight. The groups did not exhibit significant differences in any of the following parameters of overnight oxygenation: median SaO2, lowest SaO2 or frequency of 3 or 4 per cent dips in SaO2. We conclude that essential hypertension is not associated with excessive arterial hypoxaemia such as might be due to a sleep apnoea syndrome.
Warley et al. (Mon,) studied this question.