A patient admitted to the hospital for acute coronary syndrome is likely to also have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This was seen in findings presented at the Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Understanding the effects of OSA on cardiovascular outcomes in acute coronary syndrome is important for risk assessments. It is also important for therapeutic recommendations in those affected.
What is the connection?
Over a period of about seven months, researchers completed a prospective observational study of 21 patients. These patients were over the age of 18 and were admitted to the hospital for acute coronary syndrome. They also had coronary revascularization during admission and underwent inpatient overnight sleep studies.
Of those who participated, 13 had adequate sleep data and OSA was discovered in more than half of the patients. The mean apnea-hypopnea index of the group was 27.1 events per hour compared to 5.6 events per hour in those without OSA. Researchers discovered heart failure diagnosis and cardiogenic shock during hospitalization are more likely in those without OSA compared to those with.
The researchers found a high rate of OSA among patients admitted to the hospital with acute coronary syndrome. But the sample size was not large enough to make any conclusions regarding primary endpoints. The next steps would be a larger sample size to find better outcomes.
However, this is still an area of our patients’ health we need to pay close attention to. As we find more research, we can better care for each individual patient.
