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The influence of obstructive sleep apnea on right ventricular strain: do not forget mechanics!

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 34, pages 198–201 (2020)Cite this article

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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) considers recurrent episodes of complete and/or partial interruption of breading during sleeping that induce oxygen desaturation and intermittent hypoxia. OSA is prevalent in the general population (9–15% in middle-aged adult) and even more in obese patients (20–60%) [1]. It is known that OSA is related with wide range of cardiovascular diseases starting from resistant hypertension, metabolic syndrome, across coronary artery disease, and heart failure, to pulmonary hypertension [2]. Pulmonary hypertension exists in 30–70% of OSA patients [3] and it can develop even in the patients without known cardiovascular diseases. Timely detection of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension in OSA patients is very important in prevention of heart failure occurrence even in the absence of chronic lung disease, morbid obesity, or left-sided heart disease. Data regarding RV remodeling in OSA patients and the influence of therapy in these patients on RV structure and function are not concurrent.

The predictive value of RV longitudinal strain has been demonstrated in patients with various cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases such as heart failure, valve heart disease, congenital heart disease, and pulmonary hypertension [4, 5]. The importance of RV longitudinal strain and its impairment was also reported in obese patients. Therefore, evaluation of RV longitudinal strain is of a great importance in OSA patients. The main problem of available studies is the limited number of included OSA patients, which made challenging reaching of statistical significance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, University Hospital “Dr. Dragisa Misovic—Dedinje”, Belgrade, Serbia

    Marijana Tadic

  2. Clinical Research Unit, University of Milan-Bicocca and Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Viale della Resistenza 23, 20036, Meda, Italy

    Cesare Cuspidi

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  1. Marijana Tadic
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  2. Cesare Cuspidi
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Correspondence to Marijana Tadic.

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Tadic, M., Cuspidi, C. The influence of obstructive sleep apnea on right ventricular strain: do not forget mechanics!. J Hum Hypertens 34, 198–201 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-020-0308-6

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