The combination of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and OSA; two very common conditions which cause obstruction to the upper airway and the lower airway by unrelated mechanisms. The result is nocturnal oxygen desaturation due to hypoventilation and upper airway obstruction.
This common combination of OSA and COPD has important implications for diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. Specifically, patients with COPD and OSA have a substantially greater risk of morbidity and mortality, compared to those with either COPD or OSA alone.