Dear Patient,

Thank you for using Doctor Spring to clear your medical query. Sleep apnoea is a condition in which the patient does not get adequate oxygen during his sleep. It is associated with various complications like Heart Problems, stroke, increased blood pressure, uncontrolled sugar levels etc. Sleep Apnoea of longer duration also develop pulmonary hypertension. But we have to treat it because of associate problems.

Well, I am happy that the condition was detected early in its course and hence we can plan preventive therapies early on which would be more effective. However to provide the treatment, i need to know the exact AHI (Apnoea - Hypopnea index) .For an AHI of 5 or so we can ignore it, and if its more than 5, we need to intervene. Mild cases may respond to weight reduction, correction of nasal allergies, surgery to remove tonsils etc and some patients may require CPAP/ BIPAP for sleeping.

CPAP / BIPAP is to be titrated against the pressures required and used regularly. In regard to your question - what percentage of people develop PH? . There are no Randomised control studies, nor do we expect since it will be unethical to follow up a patient with definite risks without intervening. As already mentioned, it is the brain and heart effects, other than pulmonary hypertension per se that requires treatment.

In regard to your last part of the query - all the problems of sleep apnoea develops over a period of time. Hence you may find all reports normal. However i would still advice intervention because it’s better to prevent than treat any complications of the same.
Please feel free to clarify any doubts during follow up. I hope i have answered your query satisfactorily.

Regards
Dr.Jacob George