[Cardiovascular consequences of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome]

The obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is a highly prevalent sleep related breathing disorder associated with hypopnoea/apnoea, arousals and increased daytime sleepiness. OSAS has been shown to have damaging acute effects on the cardiovascular system and thus has been postulated to represent an independent cardiovascular risk factor. A causal relationship between OSAS and cardiovascular disease has currently only been established for hypertension and heart failure. Evidence that OSAS indeed plays a key role in the pathogenesis of heart attacks and stroke and that therapy of OSAS reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is currently limited. The results of multiple ongoing international multi-centre studies investigating the effects of OSAS therapy on cardiovascular event rate and mortality are thus anxiously awaited.