Objective To investigate the changes and significance of serum inflammatory factors in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) ,and the treatment effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).Methods A total of 76 CHD patients in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from October 2007 to October 2008 were enrolled.Polysomnography (PSG) was performed in these CHD patients to identify if they were complicated by OSAHS.The levels of inflammatory factors including TNF-α, IL-6, high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in serum were determined in the CHD patients and 23 normal subjects.The CHD patients with mederate-severe OSAHS (AHI≥ 15 episodes/hour) were treated by Auto-CPAP for 3 months and all parameters above were measured again.Results There were 41/76 (53.9%) of CHD patients had mederate-severe OSAHS and were treated with CPAP.The levels of TNF-ct,IL-6 and hs-CRP were significantly higher in the CHD patients than those in the normal controls (all P <0.01) ,and were significantly higher in moderate-severe OSAHS patients than those in the non-OSAHS CHD patients.Auto-CPAP ventilation significantly decreased the levels of inflammatory factors in the CHD patients with moderate-severe OSAHS.Conclusions An obvious proinflammatory state is detected in CHD patients ,and is aggravated with OSAHS.CPAP is a useful treatment for CHD patients with mediate to severe OSAHS.