Screening sleep disordered breathing in stroke unit

In acute stroke, OSA has been found to impair rehabilitation and increase mortality but the effect of central apnea is more unclear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of using limited ambulatory recording system (sleep mattress to evaluate nocturnal breathing and EOG-electrodes for sleep staging) in sleep disordered breathing (SDB) diagnostics in mild acute cerebral ischemia patients and to discover the prevalence of various SDB-patterns among these patients. 42 patients with mild ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack were studied. OSA was found in 22 patients (52.4%). Central apnea was found in two patients (4.8%) and sustained partial obstruction in only one patient (2.4%). Sleep staging with EOG-electrodes only yielded a similar outcome as scoring with standard rules. OSA was found to be common even after mild stroke. Its early diagnosis and treatment would be favourable in order to improve recovery and reduce mortality. Our results suggest that OSA can be assessed by a limited recording setting with EOG-electrodes, sleep mattress, and pulse oximetry.