Aortic dissection is significantly associated with obstructive sleep apnea, according to a Chinese study that found 81.7% of patients with Stanford’s type B aortic dissection have obstructive sleep apnea, compared with 67.2% of controls with suspected sleep apnea but no aortic disease.
A cross-sectional study in 82 patients with aortic dissection (AD), compared with 116 controls, showed individuals with aortic dissection had a higher apnea-hypopnea index, higher Berlin scores (75.6% vs. 54.3% high risk), a higher mean 4% oxygen desaturation index (16 vs. 7 events/hour), and a lower oxygen saturation during sleep (average, 87% vs. 93%). All findings were statistically significant.
"Recently, Saruhara et al. showed that patients with aortic diseases frequently suffered from moderate to severe OSAS [obstructive sleep apnea syndrome] and recommended that screening for OSAS may be helpful for early detection of patients with aortic disease," wrote Dr. Xuemin Zhang of the Peking University People’s Hospital and colleagues, in the 7 Aug. online edition of the Annals of Vascular Surgery [doi:10.1016/j.avsg.2014.07.014].
"Our results suggest that there is a strong association between OSAS and AD, supporting OSAS as an independent risk factor for type B AD."
The study was supported by a grant from the Foundation of Peking University People’s Hospital for Clinical Trial. There were no conflicts of interest declared.