title: Obstructive sleep apnea is prevalent in patients with pulmonary embolism.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome causes systemic consequences due to hypoxia and endothelial dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether OSA is more common in subjects with pulmonary embolism (PE).
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective study was conducted between November 2009 and December 2010 in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine of Gaziantep University. Twenty-eight patients with PE were included in the study group along with forty-five subjects with OSA as the control group. The control group was selected from among subjects who were referred to the sleep clinic. Full night polysomnography was performed for each subject.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was found to be higher in the PE group compared with the control group (p=0.010). Severe OSA was detected in 21.4% of the PE group but in no controls (p=0.015). Sleep stage 2 was longer in control group whereas stage 1 and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was longer in the PE group. Snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness were more common in the control group compared with the study group. AHI severity and thrombus localization were not significantly different between the groups (p=0.350).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study findings suggest that OSA is more prevalent and severe in subjects with PE compared with control subjects. The clinical significance of less prevalent excessive daytime sleepiness and snoring in subjects with PE should be evaluated in further studies.
authors.affiliation: . meraluyar1@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kosovalı
authors.forename: Meral
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uyar
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Elbek
authors.forename: Nazan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bayram
authors.forename: Ilker
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ozsaraç
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yarar
authors.forename: Ayten
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Filiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology