Feasibility of oxygen in resistant hypertension in OSA
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The feasibility of supplemental oxygen in patients with resistant hypertension and obstructive sleep apnoea
IRAS ID
279286
Contact name
Christopher Turnbull
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford / Clinical Trials and Research Governance
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN51046126
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is common affecting 1 in 4 adults to some extent. Whilst sleeping, patients with OSA have repeated episodes of narrowing of their throat leading to loud snoring, pauses in breathing, and disturbed sleep. Patients with OSA often feel sleepy in the daytime and often have high blood pressure. OSA is particulary common in patients who have persistently high blood pressure despite the use of three or more medications, a condition called resistant hypertension. Resistant hypertension affects up to 1 in 20 adults and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The standard treatment for OSA is a tight-fitting face mask, called CPAP. Whilst CPAP is very effective, patients often struggle to use CPAP, especially those with few symptoms, such as many of those with resistant hypertension and OSA. New treatments to reduce blood pressure are needed for patients with resistant hypertension and OSA to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke. Overnight oxygen is easier to deliver than CPAP, not requiring a tight fitting face mask and we recently showed that overnight oxygen can improve morning blood pressure in patients with OSA. However, it is not known whether oxygen can be used as a treatment for resistant hypertension in OSA. We aim to see if overnight oxygen is acceptable and suitable for use in patients with OSA and resistant hypertension. It is important to know this to help design larger studies to test if it is an effective treatment.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/EE/0010
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion