Association of Types of Sleep Apnea and Nocturnal Hypoxemia with Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Background: Data regarding the association between sleep apnea (SA) and atrial fibrillation (AF) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are still limited. We aim to investigate the association of both types of SA, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and central sleep apnea (CSA), and nocturnal hypoxemia with AF in HCM. Methods: A total of 606 patients with HCM who underwent sleep evaluations were included. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between sleep disorder and AF. Results: SA was presented in 363 (59.9%) patients, of whom 337 (55.6%) had OSA and 26 (4.3%) had CSA. Patients with SA were older, more often male, had a higher body mass index, and more clinical comorbidities. Prevalence of AF was higher in patients with CSA than patients with OSA and without SA (50.0% versus 24.9% and 12.8%, p < 0.001). After adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cigarette use, New York Heart Association class and severity of mitral regurgitation, SA (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.09–2.94) and nocturnal hypoxemia (higher tertile of percentage of total sleep time with oxygen saturation < 90% [OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.05–3.12] compared with lower tertile) were significantly associated with AF. The association was much stronger in the CSA group (OR, 3.98; 95% CI, 1.56–10.13) than in OSA group (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.01–2.76). Similar associations were observed when analyses were restricted to persistent/permanent AF. Conclusion: Both types of SA and nocturnal hypoxemia were independently associated with AF. Attention should be paid to the screening of both types of SA in the management of AF in HCM