Key result
T90 nocturnal hypoxaemic burden predicts cardiovascular mortality in older men, reflecting desaturations and oxygen drifts.
Why the study?
Does nocturnal hypoxaemic burden (T90) predict cardiovascular mortality in older community-dwelling men?
Cohort
Does nocturnal hypoxaemic burden (T90) predict cardiovascular mortality in older community-dwelling men?
Nocturnal hypoxaemic burden (T90) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in older men, suggesting its potential utility as a clinical risk marker.
Captured external expert commentary on this paper, strongest first. Original sources are linked where available.
“The study shows for the first time that poor blood oxygenation during sleep predicts the chance of heart-related death in elderly men. The study also demonstrates that reduced blood oxygenation cannot be attributed to episodic drops in oxygen alone.”
“The study showed that when the men had 12 or more minutes of sleep at low oxygen saturation below 90 per cent this increased the risk of heart-related death by 59 per cent.”
T90 may aid CV risk stratification in older men; leaves open whether reducing hypoxaemic burden improves outcomes in trials.
AIMS: To investigate the composition of nocturnal hypoxaemic burden and its prognostic value for cardiovascular (CV) mortality in community-dwelling older men. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed overnight oximetry data from polysomnograms obtained in 2840 men from the Outcomes of Sleep Disorders in Older Men (MrOS Sleep) study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00070681) to determine the number of acute episodic desaturations per hour (oxygen desaturation index, ODI) and time spent below 90% oxygen saturation (T90) attributed to acute desaturations (T90desaturation) and to non-specific drifts in oxygen saturation (T90non-specific), respectively, and their relationship with CV mortality. After 8.8 ± 2.7 years follow-up, 185 men (6.5%) died from CV disease. T90 [hazard ratio (HR) 1.21, P < 0.001], but not ODI (HR 1.13, P = 0.06), was significantly associated with CV death in univariate analysis. T90 remained significant when adjusting for potential confounders (HR 1.16, P = 0.004). Men with T90 > 12 min were at an elevated risk of CV mortality (HR 1.59; P = 0.006). Approximately 20.7 (5.7-48.5) percent of the variation in T90 could be attributed to non-specific drifts in oxygen saturation. T90desaturation and T90non-specific were individually associated with CV death but combining both variables did not improve the prediction. CONCLUSION: In community-dwelling older men, T90 is an independent predictor of CV mortality. T90 is not only a consequence of frank desaturations, but also reflects non-specific drifts in oxygen saturation, both contributing towards the association with CV death. Whether T90 can be used as a risk marker in the clinical setting and whether its reduction may constitute a treatment target warrants further study.
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Baumert et al. (2018) conducted a cohort in Nocturnal hypoxaemic burden. T90 (nocturnal hypoxaemic burden) was evaluated on Cardiovascular mortality. T90 (nocturnal hypoxaemic burden) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in older community-dwelling men, reflecting both frank desaturations and non-specific oxygen drifts.
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