Associations of Moderate to Severe Asthma with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between associating factors of moderate to severe asthma with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and sixty-seven patients who visited the pulmonary and sleep clinic in Severance Hospital presenting with symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing were evaluated. All subjects were screened with ApneaLink. Thirty-two subjects with a high likelihood of having OSA were assessed with full polysomnography (PSG). RESULTS: The mean age was 58.8+/-12.0 years and 58.7% of subjects were male. The mean ApneaLink apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was 12.7+/-13.0/hr. The mean ApneaLink AHI for the 32 selected high risk patients of OSA was 22.3+/-13.2/hr, which was lower than the sleep laboratory-based PSG AHI of 39.1+/-20.5/hr. When OSA was defined at an ApneaLink AHI > or =5/hr, the positive correlating factors for OSA were age, male gender, and moderate to severe asthma. CONCLUSION: Moderate to severe asthma showed strong correlation with OSA when defined at an ApneaLink AHI > or =5/hr.

Clinical Value of ApneaLink(TM) in the Diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Overnight polysomnography (PSG) in a sleep laboratory is the standard method of confirming the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, PSG is expensive, time-consuming, uneasily accessible and labor-intensive, thus the need for ambulatory screening tests. The aim of this study was to find out the usefulness of ApneaLink(TM) by comparing respiratory parameters derived from ApneaLink(TM) with those of PSG. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A prospective study was undertaken using 40 patients for whom polysomnography and ApneaLink(TM) were performed. Apnea index (AI), hypopnea index (HI), and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) from ApneaLink(TM) were obtained automatically and those from PSG were scored. All parameters were compared between PSG and ApneaLink(TM). RESULTS: The correlation coefficience of AI, HI, and AHI, which are all attainable by both PSG and ApneaLink(TM), were 0.73, 0.53, and 0.78, respectively. The results of PSG and ApneaLink(TM) showed no statistical difference. The positive predictive value was 0.9, sensitivity 91% and specificity 73% in ApneaLink(TM). CONCLUSION: ApneaLink(TM) might be clinically useful as a screening device of OSA and as a follow-up study of patients after surgery based on its high correlation with PSG and positive predictive value.