Abstract

POTTHOFF, Pablo et al. The Obstructive Sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome and atrial fibrillation: A case-control study. Rev Chil Cardiol [online]. 2012, vol.31, n.1, pp.35-40. ISSN 0718-8560.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-85602012000100005.

Introduction: The Obstructive Sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSA) predisposes to cardiac arrhythmias, but its prevalence in specific arrhythmias has been poorly reported in the literature. Our study evaluates the association of OSA and atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with different co-morbidities. Methods: Case-control study. We evaluated the frequency of OSA estimated from the Epworth Scale (EPW> 9 points) in 151 patients with AF, (58,2% Males, age 69,3±10,1) and 151 controls without AF matched by age and sex. Results: The frequency of a positive screening for OSA in both groups was 33.1% (OR=1) with an average score in positive patients of 12,2±3,0 points v/s 11,8±2,6 in controls (p=0.5). The percentage of patients with BMI> 30 and positive EPW was 27,4% in cases and 33,3% in controls (p=0,6) with average scores of 11,3±2,5 v/s 11,7±2,5 points, respectively (p=0,7). AF was associated with the presence of hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke and diabetes, and a positive EPW screening was more frequent in smokers. Analysis of subgroups of patients with AF did not reveal differences in the prevalence of OSA Conclusions: OSA is common in patients with AF, but in this study we could not demonstrate that OSA is more common in patients with AF than in healthy subjects. There were no differences in the frequency of OSA when analyzing different subgroups defined by the presence of co-morbidities.

Keywords : Atrial Fibrillation; Case Control Study; Sleep apnea syndromes.

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