Journal of sleep research
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Journal of sleep research · Jun 2009
Arousal in obstructive sleep apnoea patients is associated with ECG RR and QT interval shortening and PR interval lengthening.
Sudden cardiac death appears to be more prevalent during the normal sleeping hours in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients compared with the general population as well as to cardiovascular disease patients. The reasons for this remain unclear, but there are three likely main contributors to nocturnal death in OSA patients; cardiac arrhythmias, stroke/ruptured cerebral aneurism and myocardial infarction. Particularly marked cardiovascular system activation with arousal may play a role in initiating sudden adverse cardiovascular events in OSA. ⋯ QT interval shortening was weakly correlated with arterial oxygen saturation levels preceding arousal. In conclusion, these data suggest that despite greater cardiac acceleration following respiratory versus spontaneous arousals from sleep, QT shortening and PR prolongation responses are similar independent of arousal type. These data support that arousals produce quite marked and differential cardiac conduction system activation in OSA and that the degree and pattern of activation may be partly influenced by the presence and severity of preceding respiratory events.