Fig. 1.

Values for AHI (panel A) and AI (panel B) are shown by night in monthly intervals before and after tamsulosin exposure (“off tamsulosin”, blue dashes) and during tamsulosin exposure (“on tamsulosin”, AHI solid red diamonds, AI solid red circles). The on-tamsulosin data points begin with the first dose of tamsulosin and, to accommodate the time needed to clear tamsulosin from the body, continue until four days after the final tamsulosin dose. As shown, both AHI and AI had been low and stable for months prior to the initiation of dosing with tamsulosin. Within two days after the first dose of tamsulosin, both AHI and AI exceeded values that had not been exceeded for months. Both AHI and AI reached apex values just before tamsulosin dosing was terminated specifically because of these changes and attendant symptoms. After termination of tamsulosin, AHI and AI declined over several days, returning to and then remaining at pre-tamsulosin levels (During the five calendar months shown in Fig. 1, the patient used CPAP for a total of 1064:06 h:min, for an average of 6 h 57 min per night, >4 h per night on 153 nights, <4 h per night on 0 nights.). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)