Background: Recently, sleep disordered breathing (SDB) has gained attention in the field of cardiology. Until now, no study describing the relationship between acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and SDB has been carried out in Japan.
Methods: Among ACS patients admitted to our hospital, 44 patients (mean age 60.6+/-13.5 years) who received a portable polysomnography to measure apnea hypopnea index (AHI) were selected for this study. The circadian pattern of ACS onset was studied in 6-h intervals. In addition, all subjects were divided into three groups according to AHI severity (AHI < 5, 5 < or = AHI < 15, and 15 < or = AHI). Then, a comparative study between peak time of ACS and AHI severity was conducted for each group.
Results: In the AHI < 5 group, 66.0% patients suffered from ACS between 12:00 h and 18:00 h and 17.0% between 18:00 h and 24:00 h, and a total of 83.0% patients had ACS between 12:00 h and 24:00 h. In the 5 < or = AHI < 15 group, 49.9% patients had ACS between 24:00 h and 06:00 h, 16.7% patients between 06:00 h and 12:00 h. 12:00-18:00 h and 18:00-24:00 h showed no significant difference. All 22 patients in the 15 < or = AHI group suffered from ACS between 24:00 h and 12:00 h.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest a possible relationship between SDB and the onset of ACS between midnight to morning.