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The overlap syndrome: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obstructive sleep apnea.

Two doctors, D. Hiestand and B. Phillips, working in the division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, say that clinical trials focused on sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are "urgently needed."

The duo says COPD and sleep apnea form what’s called an overlap syndrome and that overlap defines the relationship between the two serious respiratory disorders.

Overlap syndrome is a commonly noted but poorly studied disorder, Hiestand and Phillips note in the July 24, 2008, issue of Critical Care Clinics (pp. 551-63).

The doctors note that individuals who have overlap syndrome are generally seen to be at greater risk for pulmonary hypertension; right heart failure; and hypercapnia, a condition where a person has a higher concentration of carbon dioxide in blood than is normal;) than patients who have only one of the two disorders.

Patients with have advanced-stage COPD and apnea likely has significant adverse consequences. The interaction between these two disorders, though, is presently not well understood. To that end, the doctors write, further clinical trials of the overlap syndrome are urgently needed.

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