Impact of obstructive sleep apnea on left ventricular mass and diastolic function

We wished to determine if obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased left ventricular mass (LVM) and impaired left ventricular diastol ic function (LVDF) independently of coexisting obesity, hypertension (HTN), and diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients without primary cardiac disease, refe rred for evaluation of OSA (n = 533), had overnight polysomnography and Dop pler echocardiography while awake. Patients were divided, according to the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), into an OSA group (AHI greater than or equal to 5/h, n = 353) and a non-OSA group (AMI < 5/h, n = 180). In men, LVM was gr eater in the OSA group (98.9 <plus/minus> 25.6 versus 92.3 +/- 22.5 g/m, p = 0.023) despite exclusion of those with HTN and DM. A similar trend was no ted in women. Regression analysis revealed that LVM was correlated with bod y mass index (BMI) (beta = 0.480, p < 0.0005), age (<beta> = 0.16, p = 0.00 1), and the presence of HTN (beta = 0.137, p = 0.003) in men and with BMI(b eta = 0.501, p < 0.0005) in women, hut not with AHI or oxygen saturation du ring sleep. The ratio of peak early filling velocity to peak rate filling v elocity (E/A), an index of LVDF, was similar in both groups (1.28 <plus/min us> 0.32 versus 1.34 +/- 0.31, p = 0.058); it was correlated with age (beta = -0.474, p < 0.0005), but not with AHI or oxygen saturation during sleep. We conclude that OSA is not associated with increased LVM or impaired LVDF independently of obesity, HTN, or advancing age.