摘要
objective: to study the impact that heated humidification instituted in the beginning of automatic positive airway pressure (apap) therapy has on compliance with and the side effects of the treatment. methods: thirty-nine treatment-naˋve patients with obstructive sleep apnea were randomized into two groups to receive apap using one of two modalities: with heated humidification (apapwith group); and without heated humidification (apapw/o group).patients were evaluated at 7 and 30 days after apap initiation. the following parameters were analyzed: compliance with treatment (mean number of hours/night); side effects (dry nose or mouth, nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea); daytime sleepiness (epworth sleepiness scale score) and subjective comfort (visual analog scale score). patients were also evaluated in terms of residual apnea-hypopnea index (ahi), as well as mean pressures and leaks registered in the ventilators. results: there were no differences between the two groups in terms of mean age (apapwith: 57.4 ㊣ 9.2; apapw/o: 56.5 ㊣ 10.7 years), ahi (apapwith: 28.1 ㊣ 14.0; apapw/o: 28.8 ㊣ 20.5 events/hour of sleep), baseline epworth score (apapwith: 11.2 ㊣ 5.8; apapw/o: 11.9 ㊣ 6.3) and initial nasal symptoms. compliance was similar in both groups (apapwith: 5.3 ㊣ 2.4; apapw/o: 5.2 ㊣ 2.3 h/night). there were no differences in any of the other parameters analyzed. conclusions: the introduction of heated humidification at the beginning of apap therapy provided no advantage in terms of treatment compliance or side effects of treatment.