title: Cardiovascular mortality in obstructive sleep apnoea treated with continuous positive airway pressure or oral appliance: an observational study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term cardiovascular mortality in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) treated with either continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or mandibular advancing device (MAD).
  
  
  METHODS
  A non-concurrent cohort study of 570 subjects with severe OSA (apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI) ≥ 30/h) and a control group of 269 subjects (AHI < 5/h) were followed up for a median of 79 months (interquartile range 76-88 months). All patients received CPAP initially. MAD was offered for those who were non-adherent to CPAP. The endpoint was cardiovascular death.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and eight control subjects, 177 patients treated with CPAP, 72 with MAD and 212 who declined treatment were analysed. Forty-two patients had a fatal cardiovascular event during the course of the study. The non-apnoeic group had the lowest cardiovascular death rate (0.28 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08-0.71)) followed by the CPAP-treated (0.56 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 0.20-1.23)) and the MAD-treated OSA group (0.61 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 0.13-1.78)), with the highest cardiovascular mortality rate observed in the untreated OSA group (2.1 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 1.37-2.92)). Although residual AHI for MAD-treated patients was significantly higher than CPAP-treated patients (16.3 ± 5.1/h vs. 4.5 ± 2.3/h; P < 0.001), there was no difference in cardiovascular death rate between the two groups (hazard ratio 1.08 (95% CI: 0.55-1.74); P = 0.71).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both CPAP and MAD may be equally effective therapy in reducing the risk of fatal cardiovascular events in patients with severe OSA.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Western New York Respiratory Research Center, Buffalo, New York, USA; School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anandam
authors.forename: Monali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.forename: Morohunfolu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akinnusi
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jaoude
authors.forename: Ali A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: El-Solh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D019186:Mandibular Advancement / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: cardiovascular mortality; continuous positive airway pressure; obstructive sleep apnoea; oral appliance; outcome