Is sleep apnea a winter disease?: meteorologic and sleep laboratory evidence collected over 1 decade.

Background: The severity of obstructive sleep apnea increases by influence of conditions that are more frequent in winter. The hypothesis that the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of different patients undergoing polysomnography may be seasonally affected was tested.

Methods: The retrospectively analyzed database included 7,523 patients of both sexes who underwent in-laboratory baseline polysomnography to investigate any complaint of disordered sleep, during 1 decade, between January 2000 and December 2009.

Immediate and overnight recumbence-dependent changes of neck circumference: relationship with OSA severity in obese and nonobese subjects.

Background: Overnight increases in neck circumference - attributed to rostral fluid displacement - correlate with the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). No studies were found investigating the relationship between OSA severity and recumbence-related immediate changes in neck circumference. We evaluated the relationship of OSA severity with immediate recumbence-related and overnight changes in neck circumference in obese and nonobese subjects.

Sleep apnea is a stronger predictor for coronary heart disease than traditional risk factors.

Background: Sleep apnea (SA) may be linked to coronary artery disease (CAD). Both conditions have similar risk factors, confounding the analyses. Investigation of the lipid profile is routine in the adult population, even without symptoms or suspected cardiac ailment.

High risk for sleep apnea in the Berlin questionnaire and coronary artery disease.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects up to 30% of the adult population and is a risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). The diagnostic process, involving polysomnography, may be complex. Berlin questionnaire (BQ) is a validated and economical screening tool.

Repeating administration of Epworth Sleepiness Scale is clinically useful.

Purpose: We aimed to verify whether it is clinically useful to repeat the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) in individuals with suspected sleep-disordered breathing (SDB).

Methods: In this cross-sectional, prospective study, results of the repeated administration of the ESS were analyzed. In 929 consecutive patients, ESS was obtained as usual in the laboratory routine, immediately before the sleep study (ESS1) and was repeated in the morning, after the polysomnography (ESS2).