ResMed announced at the ESC Congress 2013 that SERVE-HF (Treatment of predominant central sleep apnoea by adaptive servo ventilation in patients with heart failure) has completed enrolment. SERVE-HF is an international, randomised study of 1,325 participants investigating if the treatment of central sleep apnoea improves survival and outcomes of patients with stable heart failure.
Approximately 14 million people in Europe are living with heart failure and central sleep-disordered breathing is known to be a highly prevalent co-morbidity in these patients. With an estimated 30-50% of heart failure patients potentially at risk from this condition,1,2,3 the results from SERVE-HF, according to a company release, may have important consequences for the future management of these patients.
“Completing recruitment of SERVE-HF has been an important milestone in this landmark trial,” said co-principal investigator, Martin Cowie, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK. “We owe much to the commitment and dedication of SERVE-HF investigators and to a strong collaboration between sleep specialists and cardiologists. We now look forward to results in 2016 and to a fuller understanding of just how important the treatment of central sleep-disordered breathing is in heart failure patients.”
SERVE-HF will, for the first time, provide conclusive evidence of the health impact of effectively treating heart failure patients who have central sleep-disordered breathing. The trial, which began in 2008, is sponsored by ResMed. The company states that its completion is anticipated by mid-2015 and results are expected to be available in the first half of 2016.
References
1. Akiko Noda et al. Therapeutic Strategies for Sleep Apnea in Hypertension and Heart Failure. Pulmonary Medicine, (Volume 2013), Article ID 814169.
2. Olaf Oldenburg et al., Sleep-disordered breathing in patients with symptomatic heart failure, European Journal of Heart Failure (2006), doi:10.1016/j.ejheart.2006.08.003.
3. Paulino et al. Prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in a 316-patient French cohort of stable congestive heart failure. Archives of Cardiovascular Disease (2009). 102, p169-175
