Baptist Heart & Vascular Institute Offers New Treatment for Central Sleep Apnea

1/05/2022

Baptist Heart & Vascular Institute (BHVI) now offers a new procedure to treat central sleep apnea (CSA).

Central sleep apnea is a disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep because the brain does not send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. This condition is different from obstructive sleep apnea that is caused by upper-airway obstruction. CSA is less common than obstructive sleep apnea and can result from other conditions such as heart failure and stroke. Left untreated, it can cause or worsen cardiovascular disease.

“CSA is known to cause and exacerbate cardiovascular disease. It can result in arrhythmia like atrial fibrillation and may cause congestive heart failure,” said Sumit Verma, M.D., FACC, an electrophysiologist with BHVI.

BHVI uses the Remede system, an FDA-approved device that works as a pacemaker for the diaphragm muscle. It is programmed to allow regular movement of the diaphragm when the patient is sleeping. This results in a vast improvement in nighttime respiration, oxygen transfer and quality of sleep. “The procedure involves implanting pacemaker leads in the chest much like a cardiac pacemaker, but instead provides an electrical impulse to the phrenic nerve that controls diaphragmatic motion,” Dr. Verma said. “It is usually an outpatient procedure. Once the device is implanted, it will be activated after one month.”

The implant procedure is performed on patients who have been evaluated by a sleep disorder specialist and have been diagnosed with CSA that has not been successfully treated by other medical intervention.

For more information about CSA and this procedure, visit ebaptisthealthcare.org/heart or call BHVI at 850.469.7309.