Evaluation of the Relationship Between OSA Signs and Carotid Artery Atherosclerotic Characteristics Using Stop-BANG Questionnaire

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most prevalent sleep related breathing disorder is characterized by partially or complete airflow cessationduring sleep. Several studies have shown that there is a relationship between OSA and the risk of stroke. OSA, especially if accompanied by loud snoring, is proposed to be a risk factor for developing carotid artery sclerosis, which can be measured by carotid intimamediathickness (IMT). This study aimed to examine the association between the risks of OSA achieved by STOP-BANG questionnaire, and IMT in patients with ischemic stroke. Materials and Methods: Patients with ischemic stroke enrolled in a cross sectional study. Every patients underwent ultrasound evaluation of carotid arteries of both sides by a neuro-sonologist. The patients were asked to answer to the standardquestionnaire of STOP-BANG, which assesses the risk of OSA through eight Yes/No questions. Three or more positive responses to this questionnaire is considered as OSA and more positives is associated with higher risks of OSA. Results: Our study was comprised of119 participants, 73 (61.3%) of which were male and 46 (38.7%) were female. The mean of Right IMT in the group who had apnea was 0.008 less than those who did not have apnea and this difference was significance. (P=0.047) Among the 66 subjects who had apnea, 25(37.9%) had 50-70% stenosis and 7 (10.6%) had a stenosis of more than 70%. The results of the Fisher’s exact test showed a significant relationship between apnea and stenosis of carotid artery (P<0.001). Conclusion: The present study showed that there was a higher Right and Left IMT in apneic patients independent of the risk factors. Apnea was also shown to be related to carotid artery stenosis.