Obstructive sleep apnea patients have a high rate of silent brain infarctions that can be seen by magnetic resonance imaging, according to researchers here.
They also have elevated levels of biochemical markers associated with cerebrovascular disease, found Kenji Minoguchi, M.D., Ph.D., of Showa University School of Medicine.
On the other hand, treatment with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) over three months reduced the level of disease markers and may lower the risk of disease, Dr. Minoguchi and colleagues said in the second March issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
For reasons that could not be explained, the silent brain infarctions had no obvious clinical consequences.
The researchers enrolled 50 men with newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea and 15 obese men who had no sleep disorder to serve as controls. None had other co-morbidities.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pulmonary/SleepDisorders/tb1/5260
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