Using speckle-tracking echocardiography to evaluate subclinical left ventricular dysfunction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate left ventricular (LV) functions using speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE)-based analyses in the early stages of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: Twenty-one healthy individuals and 79 OSA patients enrolled in the study. The OSA group was classified according to Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) as mild, moderate, and severe. Two-dimensional tissue Doppler imaging and STE was performed. Results: The control and OSA groups were comparable for sex (P = 0.450) and age (P = 0.560), while diabetes (P < 0.001) and hypertension (P < 0.001) diagnoses and body mass index (P < 0.001) were higher in the OSA patients. In OSA group, global longitudinal strain (GLS) (-13.32±3.19%, P < 0.001), global circumferential strain (GCS) (-18.33±3.40%, P < 0.001) and global radial strain (GRS) (37.91±8.11%, P = 0.005) were reduced. GLS and GCS have a decreasing trend toward severe OSA, while GRS increased in mild and moderate OSA. According to linear regression analysis, GRS (β: −1.47, P = 0.001], GCS (β: −1.34, P = 0.001), GLS (β: −1.54, P < 0.001), systolic pulmonary artery pressure (β: 0.99, P = 0.001), and deceleration time (β: 0.13, P = 0.03) have an independent relationship with AHI. Conclusions: In our study, STE technique can be a practical method for manifesting LV functional impairment at the early stages of OSA.