Abstract: AIM: To evaluate the response of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) to fluoxetine.METHODS: After a baseline polysomnography (PSG) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) documented OSAHS, 10 patients were treated with fluoxetine (20 mg· d ^-1) for four weeks, a repeating PSG and ESS was performed to evaluate the action of fluoxetine.RESULTS: After 4 weeks fluoxetine treatment, the proportion of REM sleep time was decreased by 9.2%, and the assessment of ESS was significantly decreased (P <0.01).The differences in sleep latency were not statistically significance (P >0.05).The apnea hypopnea index (AHI) fell in average 24.84 per hour, the mean SaO2 and minimum SaO2 significantly increased by 3.2% and 16.6%, respectively, and desaturation event index significantly decreased 18.24 per hour (P <0.01).The mean duration of apnea had no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05).The treatment efficiency of fluoxetine to OSAHS was 50%.CONCLUSION: Short-term use of fluoxetine in patients with OSAHS is associated with better sleep quality, improvement in oxygenation, and reduction of episodic apneas or hypopneas.

Key words: pharmacodynamics, fluoxetine, obstructive sleep apnea, epworth sleepiness scale, polysomnography