Obstructive sleep apnea affects the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

There is a paucity of evidence regarding the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for coronary artery disease. We sought to investigate whether OSA affects the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing PCI.

All enrolled individuals treated with PCI were evaluated for OSA by polysomnography. The primary end point was defined as major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) at 2 years, including cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI), and/or target vessel revascularization.

A total of 340 consecutive patients undergoing PCI were assigned to the OSA (n=152, apnea-hypopnea index ≥15) and non-OSA (n=188, apnea-hypopnea index <15) groups. The incidence of OSA in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing PCI was 44.7%. Patients in the OSA group had more three-vessel disease (34.9%), increased number of total implanted stents (3.3±2.0), and longer total stent length (83.8±53.1 mm) when compared to the non-OSA group (23.4%, P=0.020; 2.8±1.9, P=0.007; 68.7±48.4, P=0.010). After a median follow-up of 2 years, the incidence of MACEs was significantly higher in patients with OSA (25.0% vs 16.0%, P=0.038), mainly driven by the increased periprocedural MI (19.2% vs 11.2%, P=0.038) in the OSA group. By Cox regression multivariable analysis, the independent predictor of MACEs was OSA (hazard ratio: 1.962, 95% confidence interval: 1.036-3.717, P=0.039).

There was a high prevalence of moderate-to-severe OSA in patients undergoing PCI, and OSA was associated with significantly increased MACE rate, mainly due to the increase in periprocedural MI rate.