Overview

This instalment of ERV Vision Live saw the expert panel, co-chaired by Prof. Winfried Randerath and Prof. Sophia Schiza, discuss adaptive servoventilation (ASV) for central sleep apnoea (CSA).

The expert panellists discussed key areas, including:

• CSA, from pathophysiology to phenotypes to diagnostic procedures.
• ASV treatment for CSA-Cheyne-Stokes breathing, current knowledge and future perspectives.
• Therapeutic options beyond ASV for CSA.

Co-Chairs

Prof. Winfried Randerath

• Winfried holds the position of Medical Director at the Bethanien Hospital, Solingen, Germany, Clinic for Pneumology and Allergology, Center for Sleep Medicine and Respiratory Care as well as the position of Director of the Institute of Pneumology at the University of Cologne.

• His main research activities are differentiation of obstructive and central sleep apnoea, interaction of sleep apnoea and the heart, pulmonary intensive care, and chronic respiratory failure.
• Winfried is a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, the American Association of Sleep Medicine, the American College of Chest Physicians, and was awarded the Teaching Award of the European Respiratory Society and the Meier-Ewert-Price of the German Dental Sleep Medicine Society.
• Within ERS he has held many roles, including Head of Assembly 4 (Sleep-disordered breathing) from 2021-2023, and he is currently Guidelines Director for the period 2024-2027.

Prof. Sophia Schiza

• Sophia is Professor of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine and Head of Respiratory Department and Sleep Disorders Center, School of Medicine, University of Crete.
• Since 2023, she has been Head of ERS Assembly 4 (Sleep-disordered breathing).
• As well as receiving the ERS Teaching Award in 2019 and 2024, she became a Fellow of ERS in 2022.
• She is a member of numerous ERS task forces and guidelines and joint ERS and European Sleep Research Society (ESRS) task forces, including her role as co-chair for the ERS Statement for the use of adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) in central sleep apnea (CSA).
• She chairs the committee for the ERS Respiratory Sleep Training Programme and is a member of the organising committee of the biannual ERS/ESRS Sleep and Breathing Congress.
• She serves as Associate Editor for Sleep Medicine.

Speakers

Prof. Johan Verbraecken

• Johan is Medical Coordinator of the Multidisciplinary Sleep Disorders Centre of the Antwerp University Hospital in Belgium.
• Since 2001, he has been a staff member at the Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium, and is currently Associate Professor and Training Director for Pulmonology at the University of Antwerp.
• At the European level, he was Secretary and Chair of the ERS Sleep and Control of Breathing Group, ERS E-Learning Director, Chair of the ERS Accreditation Review Committee for respiratory training centres, member of the Executive Committee of the Assembly of National Sleep Societies, and co-opted ESRS Board member.
• Johan is a former President of the Belgian Association for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine.

Prof. Esther Schwarz

• Esther is a respiratory and sleep physician.
• She is Vice-Clinical Director of the Department of Pulmonology and Head of the Sleep Disorders Centre and Ventilation Unit at the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland, and Professor of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at the University of Zurich.
• The work of her research group focuses on cardiovascular consequences of obstructive sleep apnoea, pathophysiology of sleep-disordered breathing and chronic respiratory failure, and on treatment outcomes in obstructive sleep apnea and on home mechanical ventilation.

• She is Secretary of Assembly 4 (sleep-disordered breathing) of the ERS and Co-President of the working group for ventilation and oxygen of the Swiss Society of Pulmonology.

Dr Rami Khayat

• Rami is currently the Division Chief of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and Director of Sleep Medicine at Penn State University in the United States of America.
• His research interests are in CSA treatment, especially in patients with heart failure.
• He has published research on therapies, including ASV and phrenic nerve stimulation.