title: Sleep apnea is common in patients with coronary artery disease.
abstract: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has a prognostic impact in patients with cardiac diseases. We included 257 patients with preserved left ventricular function and angiographically proven coronary artery disease (CAD). All patients underwent cardiorespiratory polygraphy. In 251 patients high-sensitive C-reactive protein and fibrinogen were measured. SDB was documented in 188 patients (apnea-hypopnea-index [AHI] 16.4+/- 1.9/h): 58 patients presented central sleep apnea (CSA) and 130 patients obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). All patients (73%) with SDB had higher blood fibrinogen levels than those without SDB (p = 0.01). We found 197 patients with CRP-values below the cut-off of 0.5 mg/dl (group 1) and 54 patients with no active infection but CRP>0.5 mg/dl (group 2). Severity of SDB was significantly higher in group 2 (p = 0.01). SDB has a high prevalence in CAD patients and seems to be associated with chronic inflammation, which may be linked to CAD progression and/or acute coronary events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Heart and Diabetes Center North Rhine-Westphalia, Ruhr University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, akleemeyer@hdz-nrw.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Prinz
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bitter
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piper
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Horstkotte
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Faber
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oldenburg
mesh_terms: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D015897:Comorbidity; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D005340:Fibrinogen; D002097:C-Reactive Protein