Comprehensive coronary plaque assessment in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have assessed the relationship between OSA and coronary artery disease (CAD) using coronary artery calcium score (CAC) measurements. However, limited data are available regarding the association of OSA with non‐calcified plaque burden. We therefore aimed to assess the relationship between CAD severity as assessed by coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) and OSA. Forty‐one adult subjects (59 ± 9 years, 15 men) underwent a 256‐slice coronary CTA, which was followed by a diagnostic attended cardiorespiratory polygraphy (n = 13) or polysomnography (n = 28). Segment involvement score (SIS), segment stenosis score (SSS) and CAC were used to quantify total CAD burden. Correlation analysis was used to assess potential associations between CAD and OSA. Twenty‐two patients were diagnosed with OSA. SIS and SSS were elevated in OSA (2.90 ± 2.78 versus 1.79 ± 2.39 and 4.91 ± 5.94 versus 1.79 ± 4.54, OSA versus controls, SIS and SSS respectively, both p < 0.01) and correlated with OSA severity as measured by the apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI, r = 0.41 and 0.43, p < 0.01) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI, r = 0.45 and 0.46, p < 0.01). However, no significant correlation was observed between CAC and OSA. Compared to CAC, SIS and SSS provide additional information on coronary plaque burden in OSA, which shows a significant association with OSA.

The Burden of Associated Comorbidities in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea—Regional Differences in Two Central–Eastern European Sleep Centers

“…Of note, the prevalence of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease in both populations was higher compared to the general population (around 10%) [33]. However, both values were still lower compared to the asymptomatic coronary plaque burden (80%) as reported in a previous study [34]. Apart from risk factors accounted for in our study, additional factors including alcohol consumption, diet, exercise and air pollution could contribute to the observed differences.…”

Association of sleep duration with stroke, myocardial infarction, and tumors in a Chinese population with metabolic syndrome: a retrospective study

“…1 The relationship between sleep duration and metabolic syndrome. The forest plot summarised the ORs (95% CI) of different sleep durations for baseline or new onset metabolic syndrome apnea (OSA), a cardiovascular risk factor [28], was not available and thus not considered in this study. However, the use of objective methods (like polysomnography) to accurately measure the OSA is usually not feasible in large studies of general populations, which is a common limitation of sleep-related epidemiological studies [9].…”

The Association between Sleep Duration and Quality with Readmissions: An Exploratory Pilot-Study among Cardiology Inpatients

“…However, 14 patients (19%) of the overall cohort indicated that someone had observed them to stop breathing while sleeping, suggesting a potential under-diagnosis of OSA among cardiology patients. Additionally, a recent study in a population of patients with mild OSA symptoms using coronary computed tomography angiography found no significant correlation between calcification measured by the calcium artery score and OSA [30]. The study did, however, find an association between calcification and OSA, when calcification was measured by segment involvement score and segment stenosis score.…”