Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) might be an independent risk factor for acute pulmonary embolism (APE).
Aim of the study: A prospective cohort study was conducted to investigate if APE is sleep-related in untreated OSA syndrome or not.
Methods: 206 APE patients were evaluated by portable monitoring and polysomnography. APE symptoms which caused an arousal from sleep or occurred within the first hour after wake-up were considered to be sleep-related.
Results: APE manifestation is significantly more often sleep-related in patients with moderate or severe OSA compared to subjects with an apnea-hypopnea index ≤15/h (p < 0.001). The relative risk of sleep-related APE increases with the severity of OSA.
Conclusions: OSA might trigger APE, possibly reflecting a pathophysiological relationship between these two conditions.
Keywords: Day–night pattern; Pulmonary embolism; Sleep-disordered breathing; Symptom onset.