P3a, P3b Characteristics of OSA Patients in the Acute Stroke Population

Objective: To investigate the neurophysiological and cognitive impairments in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among the acute stroke population. Methods: A total of 268 acute ischemic stroke patients with OSA underwent sleep monitoring within 24 h of admission and event-related potential tests within three days. They were categorized into groups based on their AHI: stroke only, and stroke with mild, moderate, or severe OSA. This classification served to analyze the electrophysiological profiles associated with stroke and OSA severity. Results: Compared with the control group, in the P3b series, the P3b-FZ amplitude was significantly reduced in the stroke with mild, moderate, and severe OSA group; the N2-PZ latency was significantly prolonged in the stroke with severe OSA group; and the P3b-FZ, P3b-CZ, and P3b-FZ latencies were significantly prolonged in the stroke with mild, moderate, and severe OSA group; in the P3a series, the N2-CZ amplitude was decreased in the stroke with severe OSA group, P2-FZ latency was significantly prolonged in the stroke with mild and moderate OSA group, P3a-FZ latency was significantly prolonged in the stroke with mild OSA group, P3a-CZ latency was significantly prolonged in the stroke with severe OSA group, and P3a-PZ latency was significantly prolonged in the stroke with mild and severe OSA group. Conclusions: The electrophysiologic changes compared with the stroke-only group were mainly characterized by prolonged latencies of the endogenous components P3a and P3b, suggesting that they are related to attention allocation and cognitive control.