It has been a long debate about whether sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) increases cardiovascular risk. During the keynote of SLEEP 2022, Dr. Susan Redline (MD, MPH, professor of sleep medicine and epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health) shared her findings on the physiologic impact of sleep apnea on stroke, hypertension and heart failure. The most insightful sharing from Dr. Redline is that we cannot rely on only one figure: AHI, as AHI does not identify sleep disruption autonomic stresses or phenotypic heterogeneity. Same AHI can have different: (1) duration and distribution of events; (2) Physiological consequences, including sleep fragmentation, hypoxic burden, pressure swings and autonomic cardiovascular (CV) responses. …
SLEEP 2022 Highlight: Inspiring Keynote from Dr. Susan Redline – the complexities of sleep-disordered breathing and increased cardiovascular risk
