Sleep
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To investigate the hypothesis that day/night patterns of prothrombotic activity differ between patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and individuals with no OSA. ⋯ The relatively higher average level of PAI-1 and lower average level of D-dimer across the 24-h in OSA patients might reflect decreased fibrinolytic capacity and fibrin degradation, respectively. The findings provide some evidence for a prothrombotic state in OSA, but were only partially independent of metabolic variables.
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Arteriosclerosis related stenosis in the carotid bulb causes autonomic imbalance, likely due to carotid chemoreceptor and baroreceptor dysfunction. The latter are associated with increased cerebrovascular and cardiovascular mortality. Chemoreceptor and baroreceptor dysfunction is also involved in the origin of central sleep apnea syndrome (CSA) in different clinical entities. We hypothesized that CSA is associated with stenosis of the internal carotid artery (ICA). The mechanism of this association is an autonomic imbalance induced by stenosis-mediated chemoreceptor and baroreceptor dysfunction. ⋯ CSA indicates autonomic dysfunction in patients with asymptomatic elCA stenosis. Detection of CSA may help to identify asymptomatic patients with an increased risk of cerebrovascular or cardiovascular events who particularly benefit from carotid revascularization.