Sleep disordered breathing prevalent in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

A significant number of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) also have sleep disordered breathing (SDB), which is linked to more severe heart problems, according to a study.

A total of 154 adult patients (median age 60 years, 66.2 percent male) with HCM, defined as left ventricular wall thickness ≥15 mm or pathogenic variants, were included in the study. These patients underwent polysomnography, as well as echocardiographic, electrocardiographic, and biomarker indices assessments.

Study outcomes included echocardiographic indices, cardiac biomarker expression, functional status, apnoea-hypopnea index, and overnight hypoxemia.

More than half of the patients (59.1 percent) received a diagnosis of SDB. Patients with vs without SDB had significantly higher left ventricular mass index (median, 128 vs 109 g/m²; p=0.03), E/e′ ratio (median, 12.5 vs 10.0; p=0.04), and baseline troponin-T level (median, 0.013 vs 0.011 ng/mL; p=0.04), as well as greater overnight troponin-T level elevation (change in median, 0.0021 vs 0.0002 ng/mL; p=0.02).

Patients with vs without SDB were also more likely to have NYHA class II or III symptoms (52.7 percent vs 27.0 percent; p=0.005), hypertension (73.6 percent vs 57.1 percent; p=0.03), and diabetes (15.4 percent vs 4.8 percent; p=0.04). The number of patients with atrial fibrillation and prior myectomy did not significantly differ between the two groups.