Factors influencing troponin T concentration in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Introduction. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is strongly associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes, however the relation between OSAS severity and troponin T (TnT) remain unclear. Material and methods. Diagnosis and assessment of OSAS severity was based on non-supervised, overnight screening polysomnography (PSG) performed without an adaptation night. The study group consisted of 72 patients diagnosed with OSAS (including 31 with mild, 10 with moderate and 31 patients with severe OSAS), whereas the control group contained 16 individuals. PSG was performed with equipment fulfilling the criteria of type III diagnostic devices according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Results. Revealed significant differences in troponin T levels between patients with severe OSAS and controls (p = 0.02) as well as in patients with severe and with mild OSAS (p = 0.04). The factors substantially affecting TnT concentrations were found to be apnea–hypopnea index (AHI), apnea index (AI), hypopnea index (HI) and minimum nocturnal saturation. Conclusions. The relationship between sleep apnea syndrome and the level of serum TnT confirms that OSAS predisposes to myocardial damage in a manner dependent on the severity of sleep apnea. The increase in troponin level is mainly associated with AHI and minimum nocturnal saturation. This suggests that early treatment of OSAS patients may protect against myocardial injury.