• Antonia Barceló, Cristina Esquinas, Josep Miquel Bauçà, Javier Piérola, Mónica de la Peña, Meritxell Arqué, Manuel Sánchez-de-la-Torre, Alberto Alonso-Fernández, and Ferran Barbé.
• Servei d'Anàlisis Cliniques Hospital Universitari Son Espases, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Spain. Electronic address: antonia.barcelo@ssib.es.
• Respir Med. 2014 Jul 1; 108 (7): 1060-3.

BackgroundObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with an increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. New generations of highly sensitive assays for cardiac troponin (hs-cTnT) have been introduced recently, and a number of clinical observations have challenged the notion that troponins are only increased in blood following irreversible necrosis.ObjectiveThe aims of this study were to compare the levels of hs-cTnT between a group of healthy controls and a group of patients with OSA without co-existent coronary artery disease, and to assess the possible influence of the treatment with Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on these levels.MethodsThe study population included 200 male participants. The case (n = 133) or control (n = 67) status was defined by an apnea-hypopnea index of 10 or greater. The hs-cTnT assay was validated as reported previously, with a limit of detection of 3 ng/L and an upper reference limit (99th percentile) of 14 ng/L.ResultsThe proportion of subjects with detectable plasma hs-cTnT was higher in patients with OSA than in controls (61 vs 75%, p = 0.04). In patients, a significant increase in hs-cTnT levels was observed after an effective treatment with CPAP (7.3 ± 3.4 vs 10.1 ± 4.9 ng/L; p < 0.01).ConclusionThis study shows that the percentage of subjects with detectable hs-cTnT is associated with the presence of OSA. It also evidences that treatment with CPAP is followed by a rise in hs-cTnT concentrations. It is reasonable to suggest that CPAP therapy might induce a potential degree of cardiac stress, resulting in deleterious consequences for the heart.Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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