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Cardiac imageology changes in patients with mild obstructive sleep apnea without cardiovascular disease

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess changes in cardiac imageology of patients with mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) without cardiovascular disease.

Methods

All enrolled participants underwent polysomnography (PSG). Some participants underwent transthoracic echocardiography, speckle tracking echocardiography, and cardiac-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) if they were willing. They were divided into three groups according to PSG results: non-OSA, mild OSA, and moderate-to-severe OSA. Imageology parameters were compared, and the relationship between OSA severity and imageology indices was analyzed by correlation analysis and multiple linear regression.

Results

Of the 352 enrolled participants, 274 participants with OSA had an apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) of ≥ 5 (86 mild OSA and 188 moderate-to-severe OSA cases), and 78 participants with non-OSA had an AHI of < 5. Transthoracic echocardiography showed that E/A and E’/A’ values were lower in the mild OSA group than in the non-OSA group (1.12 ± 0.37 vs 1.27 ± 0.45 and 0.83 ± 0.33 vs 0.99 ± 0.42, respectively, p < 0.05). The aorta and ascending aorta widths were smaller in the mild OSA group than in the moderate-and-severe OSA groups (27.36 ± 2.87 mm vs 28.87 ± 2.95 mm and 30.27 ± 3.79 mm vs 31.63 ± 3.74 mm, respectively, p < 0.05). A regression analysis showed that cardiac function changes in patients with OSA may be related to age, obesity, and OSA severity.

Conclusion

Patients with mild OSA without cardiovascular disease displayed changes in cardiac structure and function on transthoracic echocardiography.

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Data availability

The detailed participant data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Qiongwen Li, Lishan Zhong, and Xiaobing Zhou for their participation in the cardiac examinations of participants.

Funding

This research was funded by the general program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (81870077).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sleep Center, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Geriatrics Institute, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Zuogeng Hong, Qiong Ou, Yilu Cheng & Yanxia Xu

  2. Medical College of Shantou University, Shantou, 515041, China

    Zuogeng Hong

  3. Department of Cardiology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences/Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Hongwen Fei

  4. Department of Radiology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital/Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, China

    Hui Liu

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  1. Zuogeng Hong
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  4. Yanxia Xu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation was performed by Qiong Ou, Yilu Cheng, Yanxia Xu, Hongwen Fei, and Hui Liu. Data collection and analysis were performed by Zuogeng Hong. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Zuogeng Hong, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qiong Ou.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital [ethical code GDREC2018531h (R2)].

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Participants signed ethics committee-approved consent forms prior to participation.

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Not applicable.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Hong, Z., Ou, Q., Cheng, Y. et al. Cardiac imageology changes in patients with mild obstructive sleep apnea without cardiovascular disease. Sleep Breath 26, 595–604 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-021-02421-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-021-02421-0

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