Long-term variations of arterial stiffness in patients with obesity and obstructive sleep apnea treated with continuous positive airway pressure

BackgroundObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with cardiovascular co-morbidities and mortality. Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk and mortality, and is influenced by the presence of OSA and related comorbidities. There is a paucity of data regarding long-term evolution of arterial stiffness in CPAP-treated OSA patients. We aimed to prospectively study long term PWV variations and determinants of PWV deterioration.MethodsIn a prospective obese OSA cohort, at time of diagnosis and after several years of follow-up we collected arterial stiffness measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), clinical and metabolic parameters, and CPAP adheren…