title: [Cardiovascular consequences of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome].
abstract: The obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is a highly prevalent sleep related breathing disorder associated with hypopnoea/apnoea, arousals and increased daytime sleepiness. OSAS has been shown to have damaging acute effects on the cardiovascular system and thus has been postulated to represent an independent cardiovascular risk factor. A causal relationship between OSAS and cardiovascular disease has currently only been established for hypertension and heart failure. Evidence that OSAS indeed plays a key role in the pathogenesis of heart attacks and stroke and that therapy of OSAS reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is currently limited. The results of multiple ongoing international multi-centre studies investigating the effects of OSAS therapy on cardiovascular event rate and mortality are thus anxiously awaited.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Pneumologie, Universitätsspital Zürich, Zürich. Malcolm.Kohler@usz.ch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohler
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Russi
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Bloch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*