Assessment of sleep breathing disorders in ankylosing spondylitis patients

To investigate the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea [OSA] as one of common sleep breathing disorders in patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis [AS] and its relation to disease duration, activity and pulmonary function tests. This study included 15 male patients with AS fulfilled the Modified New York criteria for diagnosis of AS. All the patients were subjected to full medical history, thorough general and local examination of the chest, ear, nose and throat [ENT], pulmonary function tests [FVC- FEV 1 and FEV 1/FVC] and one night polysomnography [PSG] at the sleep laboratory. Polysomnographic data revealed OSA in 5 cases [33.3%] and normal sleep pattern in 10 cases [66.7%]. There was statistically non significant difference between patients with and without OSA as regards disease activity and the results of pulmonary function tests [p>0.05] while patients with OSA showed higher body mass index [BMI] and longer disease duration than patients with no evidence of OSA [p<0.05]. OSA is commonly associated with patients with AS. Early detection of this sleep breathing disorder in patients with AS will help to improve the fatigue symptoms in these patients, decrease their suffering as well as decrease the morbidity and mortality of OSA