TABLE 1

Current evidence from clinical studies on the impact of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) on aortic disease

First author [ref.]	Year	Design	Population	Subjects n	Outcome measures	Results
Tanriverdi [44]	2006	Case–control	Sleep laboratory	40, plus 24 controls	IMT, FMD, aortic stiffness	OSA is associated with higher values of aortic stiffness and IMT but lower distensibility and FMD (including data on aortic diameter)
Serizawa [45]	2008	Cross-sectional	Sleep laboratory	150	AHI, aortic diameter	AHI is independently associated with greater thoracic aortic diameter
Meuleman [46]	2008	Cross-sectional	Sleep laboratory	76	AHI, aortic diameter, aortic stiffness	The prevalence of aortic root dilation in OSA is 3.9%; no association between OSA and aortic parameters
Kohler [41]	2009	Case–control	Marfan's syndrome	61, plus 26 controls	OSA prevalence, correlation of AHI and aortic diameter	OSA is highly prevalent in Marfan's syndrome; AHI correlates with aortic diameter
Lee [47]	2010	Cross-sectional	Acute myocardial infarction	94	AHI, aortic root	BMI, age and hypertension, but not AHI, determine thoracic aortic size
Pedrosa [48]	2010	Case–control	HCM	32, plus 48 controls	Left atrial diameter, aortic diameter	OSA is highly prevalent in HCM patients and is associated with left atrial and aortic enlargement
Cicek [49]	2011	Cross-sectional	Sleep laboratory	90	AHI, aortic root size, left ventricle dysfunction	Severity of OSA (AHI) correlates with aortic root diameter
Achour [50]	2011	Cross-sectional	General population	303	Mean nocturnal oxygen saturation, aortic root	Nocturnal hypoxaemia is associated with aortic root size in the elderly
Baguet [51]	2011	Cross-sectional	Sleep laboratory	156	Aortic root, nocturnal hypoxia, diastolic BP, AHI, BRS	Nocturnal hypoxaemia, decreased BRS and increased diastolic BP are associated with greater aortic root size in OSA
Kohler [43]	2013	Prospective cohort	Marfan's syndrome	44	Aortic events	Aortic event-free survival may be shorter in patients with Marfan's syndrome and OSA compared with patients without OSA
Chen [52]	2014	Case–control	Sleep laboratory	65, plus 14 controls	Cardiac function, aortic root	Patients with moderate to severe OSA tend to have cardiac dysfunction (including data on aortic diameter)
Tachikawa [53]	2014	Cross-sectional	Sleep laboratory	427	Abdominal aortic diameter at three anatomic landmarks	OSA is independently associated with dilation of the distal abdominal aorta in men

IMT: carotid intima-media thickness; FMD: flow-mediated dilation; AHI: apnoea–hypopnoea index; BMI: body mass index; HCM: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; BRS: baroreflex sensitivity; BP: blood pressure.