Influence of sleep bruxism on QTc interval and QT variability in patients with OSA: A pilot study

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increases in QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc interval) and QT variability index (QTVI) and sleep bruxism (SB) is prevalent in OSA patients.

To examine whether QTc interval and QT variability were changed during episodes of rhythmic masticatory muscle activities (RMMAs)/SB in SB patients with and without OSA.

The RR and QTc intervals, and QTVI during RMMAs with or without accompanied limb movements (RMMAs/LMs) in 10 normal controls and 10 SB patients without OSA and during apneic and recovery periods of OSA in 10 SB patients with OSA were analysed.

In the SB patients without OSA and controls, QTc intervals and QTVI were significantly increased during RMMAs/LMs compared with those during the 10 s periods (from 10^th to 20^th s) before the onset and after the offset of RMMAs/LMs, and significantly increased during RMMAs/LMs with awakenings compared with those with microarousals and no arousals. In addition, QTc interval and QTVI were positively correlated with the duration of RMMAs/LMs. Moreover, in the SB patients with OSA, QTc interval and QTVI during the recovery period of OSA events were significantly longer and higher than those during the apneic period regardless of accompanied RMMAs/LMs, and QTc interval and QTVI during the apneic and recovery periods accompanied with RMMAs/LMs were significantly longer and higher than those without accompanied RMMAs/LMs.

OSA and RMMAs/LMs events were associated with longer QTc intervals and higher QTVI, and RMMAs/LMs might contribute to these changes associated with OSA events accompanied with RMMAs/LMs.