Efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on 5-year survival in patients with ischaemic stroke and obstructive sleep apnea: a randomized controlled trial.

Parra O1, Sánchez-Armengol Á, Capote F, Bonnin M, Arboix A, Campos-Rodríguez F, Pérez-Ronchel J, Durán-Cantolla J, Martínez-Null C, de la Peña M, Jiménez MC, Masa F, Casadon I, Alonso ML, Macarrón JL. J Sleep Res. 2015 Feb;24(1):47-53.

The main purpose of the present analysis is to assess the influence of introducing early nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) treatment on cardiovascular recurrences and mortality in patients with a first-ever ischaemic stroke and moderate-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥20 events h(-1) during a 5-yearfollow-up. Patients received conventional treatment for stroke and were assigned randomly to the nCPAP group (n = 71) or the control group (n = 69). Cardiovascular events and mortality were registered for all patients. Survival and cardiovascular event-free survival analysis were performed after 5-year follow-up using the Kaplan-Meier test. Patients in the nCPAP group had significantly higher cardiovascular survival than the control group (100 versus 89.9%, log-rank test 5.887; P = 0.015) However, and also despite a positive tendency, there were no significant differences in the cardiovascular event-free survival at 68 months between the nCPAP and control groups (89.5 versus 75.4%, log-rank test 3.565; P = 0.059). Early nCPAP therapy has a positive effect on long-term survival in ischaemic stroke patients and moderate-severe OSA.

Ventana Cientifica. Octibre 2015. Artículo 30
Efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on 5-year survival in patients  withischaemic stroke and obstructive sleep apnea: a randomized controlled trial.