Relationship between apnoea-hypopnoea index and angiographic
coronary disease phenotypes in patients presenting with acute
myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND

Relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea and atherosclerosis has not been confirmed using coronary angiography. We sought to investigate the relationships between the apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) and angiographic coronary disease phenotypes.

METHODS

SYNTAX score, lesion complexity, and thrombus burden grade were determined in 125 patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction and had undergone a screening sleep study. Severe OSA was defined as AHI ≥ 30.

RESULTS

Most of the recruited patients were male (97.6%). Severe obstructive sleep apnoea was diagnosed in 37% of the patients. The severe obstructive sleep apnoea group (n = 46) was older (P = 0.039) and more obese (P = 0.003) than the non-severe group (n = 79). There was no evidence of difference between the severe and non-severe obstructive sleep apnoea groups with regard to SYNTAX score (P = 0.871), number of complex lesions (P = 0.241), and thrombus burden grade (P = 0.433). Multivariate analysis adjusting for difference in age and body mass index did not change the findings.

CONCLUSION

Using the three angiographic scoring systems, we found no association between AHI and angiographic coronary disease phenotypes, suggesting a limited effect of obstructive sleep apnoea on the amount and distribution of coronary plaques in patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction.