Introduction: Very few factors, such as hypertension and smoking, have been identified as a risk for cerebral aneurysm. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been established as a risk factor for intractable hypertension. Additionally, recent studies have suggested an association between OSA and abdominal aortic aneurysm. However, no data are available on the association between OSA and cerebral aneurysm.
Methods: In this case-control cross-sectional study, trained doctorsand medical students administered a validated Arabic version of the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) to all patients admitted to the hospital with cerebral aneurysm between 2006-2011 (n=53). The same questionnaire was administered to the control group. The control group comprised patients attending primary health care clinics matched to cases for age, body mass index (BMI) and gender (n=518). BQ is a standardized validated questionnaire that has high sensitivity and specificity for detecting the risk for OSA.
Results: During the study period, 53 patients(62.2% males), with a mean age of 50.7 ± 15 years and a BMI of 27.9 ± 4.8were admitted with cerebral aneurysm. Among cases, 75.5% complained of snoring compared to 50.6% in the controls (p=0.001). Hypertension was present in 67.9% of cases compared to 29.6% in the controls (p<0.001). Based on the BQ stratification for risk of OSA, 60.4%of the cases were considered as high-risk patients for OSA compared to 36.9% of the controls (p=0.001).
Conclusions: The prevalence of symptoms of OSA among patients with cerebral aneurysm is very high. Almost 6 out of 10 patients with cerebral aneurysm are at risk for OSA, and may benefit from proper evaluation for OSA.
Patient Care: Further studies may confirm the independent risk of OSA for the development of cerebral aneurysm is strongly recommended.
Learning Objectives: To determine the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with
Intracranial aneurysm, and investigate a possible association between OSA and rate of intracranial aneurysm .