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Review
. 2018 Dec;10(Suppl 34):S4244-S4252.
doi: 10.21037/jtd.2018.12.66.

Sleep-disordered breathing and stroke: chicken or egg?

Filip Alexiev  1 , Anne-Kathrin Brill  2 , Sebastian R Ott  2   3 , Simone Duss  1 , Markus Schmidt  1   4 , Claudio L Bassetti  1
Affiliations
Review

Sleep-disordered breathing and stroke: chicken or egg?

Filip Alexiev et al. J Thorac Dis. 2018 Dec.

Abstract

The bidirectional interaction between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and stroke has been the subject of many studies. On the one hand, different forms of SDB, and especially obstructive sleep apnea, increase the risk of stroke either directly or indirectly by influencing other known cardiovascular risk factors such as arterial hypertension and arrhythmias. On the other hand, stroke itself can cause either de novo appearance of SDB, aggravate a pre-existing SDB, or trigger a transition from one type of pathological SDB pattern into another. In this review, we discuss some aspects of this "chicken or egg" relationship.

Keywords: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB); central sleep apnea (CSA); obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); risk factors; stroke.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The bi-directional relationship between SDB and stroke. SDB, sleep-disordered breathing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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