Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Risk of Cardiovascular Events or All-Cause Mortality in Patients With Spinal Cord Injuries

Objective Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbi-mortality, but this relationship has never been studied in patients with spinal cord injury. Our objective was to describe the impact of obstructive sleep apnea on the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in patients with spinal cord injury. Design This is a retrospective, descriptive, single-center study. Results Out of 269 spinal cord injury patients, 177 had obstructive sleep apnea and 32 experienced a major adverse cardiovascular events–all-cause mortality. Univariate analysis shows that age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and Apnea Hypopnea Index were associated with major adverse cardiovascular events–all-cause mortality occurrence. Age, sex, diabetes, and dyslipidemia but not hypertension nor Apnea Hypopnea Index was independently associated with major adverse cardiovascular events–all-cause mortality in multivariate analysis. Log rank test suggest a significant impact of obstructive sleep apnea on major adverse cardiovascular events–all-cause mortality occurrence during spinal cord injury follow-up ( P = 0.047). Conclusions Obstructive sleep apnea severity was not independently associated with major adverse cardiovascular events–all-cause mortality in spinal cord injury, but our descriptive study suggests that larger prospective studies are required. These could potentially use the national health data hub to maximize inclusions and restrain the selection bias due to our mono centric (and highly specialized) design.