Screening for obstructive sleep apnoea and multifaceted treatment during the subacute phase of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) does not lower cardiovascular marker levels more than standard therapy, a recent study has found.
Researchers randomly assigned 159 patients to receive either sleep-study guided multidisciplinary therapy (SGMT; n=70; mean age, 55.6±9.0 years; 91.4 percent male) or standard therapy (n=89; mean age, 54.2±7.4 years; 87.6 percent male). The primary study endpoint was the change in plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels after 7 months.
NT-proBNP decreased with time in both treatment arms. No significant between-group differences were reported at baseline (579±1,117 vs 611±899 pg/dL; p=0.851) and after 4 (115±222 vs 114±226 pg/dL; p=0.990) and 7 (90±167 vs 93±174 pg/dL; p=0.996) months of follow-up.
Similarly, the magnitudes of change from baseline were comparable between groups after 4 (–464 vs –497 pg/dL; p=0.792) and 7 (–489 vs –518 pg/dL; p=0.726) months.
Levels of plasma suppression of tumorigenicity 2 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein likewise were not significantly different between the two groups.
These resulted in similar risks. At the 7-month follow-up, the estimated likelihood of developing fatal cardiovascular disease within 10 years was 2.1±1.8 percent in the SGMT group and 2.0±2.4 percent in the controls (p=0.176). At this time point, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events also occurred with comparable frequencies between groups.