Vahid Mahdavizade - Student Research Committee, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Shokat Nazemian - Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Fariborz Rezaeitalab - Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

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.