Prevalence, types and treatment of bradycardia in obstructive sleep apnea - A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: The association of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with bradycardia is not well-characterized, which may confer significant morbidity and mortality if left untreated. We sought to clarify the prevalence of comorbid OSA and bradycardia, and the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on bradycardia outcomes.

Methods: We systematically searched four electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus) for randomized or observational studies reporting the co-prevalence of sleep apnea and bradycardia or evaluated the use of CPAP on the incidence of bradycardias. We used random-effects models in all meta-analyses and evaluated heterogeneity using I².

Results: We included 34 articles from 7204 records, comprising 4852 patients. Among patients with OSA, the pooled prevalence of daytime and nocturnal bradycardia were 25% (95% CI: 18.6 to 32.7) and 69.8% (95% CI: 41.7 to 88.2) respectively. Among patients with bradycardia, the pooled prevalence of OSA was 56.8% (95% CI: 21.5 to 86.3). CPAP treatment, compared to those without, did not significantly reduce the risk of daytime (two randomized trials; RR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.11 to 2.21) or nocturnal bradycardia (one randomized-controlled trial and one cohort study; RR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.48 to 1.20).

Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrates a high comorbid disease burden between OSA and bradycardia. Future research should explore the treatment effect of CPAP on bradycardia incidence, as compared to placebo.

Keywords: Atrioventricular block; Bradyarrhythmia; Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP); Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); Sinus arrest; Sinus bradycardia.