Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology  |  Posted 9 years ago

Treatment of patients with sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome reduces mortality to that seen in the general population.

Dr S Marti and colleagues of the Servei de Pneumologia, Hospital General Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain, studied a historical cohort of 475 patients with sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome. Of these patients, 444 met the inclusion criteria for the study. The treatments employed included surgery, weight loss, and continuous positive airway pressure. Ninety eight patients were not treated at all.

By the end of follow-up, 49 patients had died. The researchers found by Cox regression analysis, mortality in treated group was lower than in the untreated group. However, mortality in the treated group was higher in those with a history of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There was an excess of mortality in the non-treated patients compared with that of the general population (after adjusting for age and sex). In contrast, mortality was decreased in the treated patients compared with that seen in the general population. Overall, there was a greater mortality rate ratio in patients <50 years.

The researchers said, "In conclusion, a rise in mortality was found in non-treated sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome patients compared with the general population, whereas mortality in those treated for sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome did not differ significantly from that of the general population."