Clinical science
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1. Periodic breathing is known to be associated with cyclic fluctuations in heart rate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the capability of spectral analysis of heart rate variability to identify episodes with periodic breathing in patients suspected of having sleep apnoea syndrome. 2. ⋯ The analysis of the episodes classified as false-positive at a given test sensitivity of 90% and a corresponding specificity of 77% revealed that half of these episodes had been recorded during transient central nervous arousal reactions related to periodic leg movements or heavy snoring. 5. We concluded that power spectral analysis of heart rate variability offers a possible means of identifying episodes of sleep-related breathing disorders or periodic leg movements. Therefore, analysis of heart rate variability may be a valuable additional diagnostic tool in patients undergoing Holter-ECG recording.