Quality of life improves in patients with chronic heart failure and Cheyne‐Stokes respiration treated with adaptive servo‐ventilation in a nurse‐led heart failure clinic

Aims and objectives The aim of this study was to investigate if quality of life improved in chronic heart failure patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration treated with adaptive servo-ventilation in nurse-led heart failure clinic. Background Cheyne-Stokes respiration is associated with decreased quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure. Adaptive servo-ventilation is introduced to treat this sleep-disordered breathing. Design Randomised, controlled design. Methods Fifty-one patients (ranging from 53–84 years), New York Heart Association III-IV and/or left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% and Cheyne-Stokes respiration were randomised to an intervention group who received adaptive servo-ventilation or a control group. Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire was used to assess quality of life at randomisation and after three months. Both groups were followed in the nurse-led heart failure clinic. Result Adaptive servo ventilation improved quality of life-scores both in a per protocol analysis and in an intention to treat analysis. Twenty-one patients dropped out of the study, nine in the control and 12 in the intervention group. Conclusion Use of adaptive servo-ventilation improved quality of life in chronic heart failure patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration. However, the drop-out rate was high. Relevance to clinical practice Chronic heart failure patients come regularly to the nurse-led heart failure clinic. The heart failure nurses’ competency has to include knowledge of equipment to provide support and continuity of care to the patients.