Prevalence of Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Cheyne-Stokes Respiration in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

Limited data are available regarding the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), particularly Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR), in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of SDB and CSR, as well as the factors associated with these conditions, in patients with AF without LV systolic dysfunction.

Patients with paroxysmal and non-paroxysmal AF underwent echocardiography and cardiorespiratory polygraphy. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed using the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and %CSR as the dependent variables.

A total of 462 patients were enrolled; 335 patients (72.5%) were diagnosed with SDB (AHI ≥5/h), with a median AHI of 10.3 events per hour (interquartile range, 4.7-20.8). CSR was observed in 107 patients (23.2%). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that age, sex, body mass index, and hypertension were independently correlated with AHI (p = 0.0188, 0.0002, <0.0001, and 0.0457, respectively). Conversely, age, diabetes mellitus (DM), and the plasma N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level were independently correlated with %CSR (p < 0.0001, 0.0047, and 0.0095, respectively).

SDB and CSR were common in patients with AF. CSR was observed in older patients with DM and high NT-proBNP levels.