Association between obstructive sleep apnea and deep vein thrombosis / pulmonary embolism: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, and may cause severe morbidity and mortality. Recent studies have indicated that OSA patients exhibited elevated platelet activity, fibrinogen levels, and platelet aggregation.

Objectives: We investigated the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients diagnosed with OSA compared with age- and sex-matched unaffected people.

Patients/methods: This longitudinal, nationwide, population-based cohort study was conducted using data from Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) recorded between January 2000 and December 2011. The study consisted of 3511 patients with OSA and 35110 matched comparison individuals. A Cox proportional hazard regression was used to compute the risk of DVT and PE in patients with OSA compared with those without OSA.

Results: The DVT and PE risks were 3.50- and 3.97-fold higher (95% CI=1.83-6.69 and 1.85-8.51) respectively, in the OSA cohort than in the reference cohort after we adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidities.

Conclusion: This nationwide population-based cohort study indicates that patients with OSA exhibit a higher risk of subsequent DVT and PE.