Increased prevalence of sleep apnea in patients with recurring ischemic stroke compared with first stroke victims.

Since sleep apnea (SA) and stroke have many shared risk factors an independent contribution of SA to the overall risk of stroke is not easily proven and has been questioned recently. To contribute to this controversy, we analysed the frequency of SA in groups of patients with first and recurring ischemic stroke. We prospectively studied 102 patients admitted to our stroke unit.