Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Feb 15;8(1):21-6.
doi: 10.5664/jcsm.1652.

Sleep disordered breathing in patients with acute coronary syndromes

Sophia E Schiza  1 , Emmanuel Simantirakis, Izolde Bouloukaki, Charalampos Mermigkis, Eleftherios M Kallergis, Stauros Chrysostomakis, Dimitrios Arfanakis, Nikolaos Tzanakis, Panos Vardas, Nikolaos M Siafakas
Affiliations

Sleep disordered breathing in patients with acute coronary syndromes

Sophia E Schiza et al. J Clin Sleep Med. .

Abstract

Study objectives: Although the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is high in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), there is little knowledge about the persistence of OSAHS in ACS patients after the acute event. We aimed to assess the prevalence and time course of OSAHS in patients with ACS during and after the acute cardiac event.

Methods: Fifty-two patients with first-ever ACS, underwent attended overnight polysomnography (PSG) in our sleep center on the third day after the acute event. In patients with an apnea hypopnea index (AHI) > 10/h, we performed a follow up PSG 1 and 6 months later.

Results: Twenty-eight patients (54%) had an AHI > 10/h. There was a significant decrease in AHI 1 month after the acute event (13.9 vs. 19.7, p = 0.001), confirming the diagnosis of OSAHS in 22 of 28 patients (79%). At 6-month follow-up, the AHI had decreased further (7.5 vs. 19.7, p < 0.05), and at that time only 6 of the 28 patients (21%) were diagnosed as having OSAHS. Twelve of the 16 current smokers stopped smoking after the acute event.

Conclusions: We have demonstrated a high prevalence of OSAHS in ACS patients, which did not persist 6 months later, indicating that, to some degree, OSAHS may be transient and related with the acute phase of the underlying disease or the reduction in the deleterious smoking habit.

Keywords: Acute coronary syndromes; obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome; polysomnography.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of participation
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box plots showing total apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) values.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Peppard PE, Young T, Palta M, Skatrud J. Prospective study of the association between sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension. N Engl J Med. 2000;342:1378–84. - PubMed
    1. Young T, Peppard P, Palta M, et al. Population-based study of sleep-disordered breathing as a risk factor for hypertension. Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:1746–52. - PubMed
    1. Peker Y, Carlson J, Hedner J. Increased incidence of coronary artery disease in sleep apnoea: a long-term follow-up. Eur Respir J. 2006;28:596–602. - PubMed
    1. Gami AS, Pressman G, Caples SM, et al. Association of atrial fibrillation and obstructive sleep apnea. Circulation. 2004;110:364–7. - PubMed
    1. Kanagala R, Murali NS, Friedman PA, et al. Obstructive sleep apnea and the recurrence of atrial fibrillation. Circulation. 2003;107:2589–94. - PubMed