Sleep Oxygen Desaturation in Late Sequelae of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Abstract

Thirty-eight patients with late sequelae of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB seq.) were studied to clarify the characteristics of sleep desaturation in comparison with 40 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While awake, the TB seq. group had a lower % VC and a higher PaCO₂. In both groups, the sleep lowest SaO₂ was positively correlated with the awake SaO₂. The regression line between the sleep lowest SaO₂ and the awake baseline SaO₂ in the TB seq. group was located below that in the COPD group. Awake PaCO₂ was negatively related to the sleep lowest SaO₂ only in the TB seq. group. These results indicate that the sleep lowest SaO₂ values were lower in TB seq. than in COPD patients with the same levels of SaO₂ while awake. Sleep studies are necessary to reveal the indication for nocturnal oxygen therapy in TB seq. patients, especially when they are hypercapnic in spite of their good awake oxygenation.
(Internal Medicine 35: 534-539, 1996)