Screening for sleep apnea should be a component of a stroke prevention strategy, Jens Ehrhardt and his associates at Jena University Hospital, Germany, recommend.
Sleep apnea was detected with polysomnography in 69% of 96 patients with asymptomatic extracranial carotid stenosis of at least 50%. Stenosis severity was related to central sleep apnea (P=0.06) but not to obstructive sleep apnea. In addition, central sleep apnea but not obstructive sleep apnea was strongly associated with arterial hypertension (OR, 12.5, P=0.02) and diabetes (OR, 4.5, P=0.04), the researchers reported.
The association with central sleep apnea may be due to carotid chemoreceptor dysfunction, the researchers wrote.
Read the full article at: Chest. 2014. doi:10.1378/chest.14-1655