For 6-12-year-old subjects, after adjustment for age and FSIQ, both %REM and OSA were associated with lower score of the subtest of language domain, WPPSI-R Vocabulary, while %REM was also associated with lower score of VABS-II Communication - Expressive.
There were significant differences between the pure OSAHS group and its mixed counterpart in apnea-hypopnea indices during REM (AHI<sub>REM</sub>) and non-REM (AHI<sub>NREM</sub>) and in percentages of N2 or N3 sleep.
Unlike patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), hypertension was uncommon (4·7%) while depression was prevalent at 68·6% with short REM latency of <90 min and an increased REM composition >25% documented in 79·6% and 57·6% of these depressed patients, respectively.
Lower loop gain in REM is unlikely to contribute to the worsened OSA severity typically observed in REM sleep, but may explain the reduced propensity for central sleep apnea in this sleep stage.
The present study examined the association between OSA during REM sleep and a composite cardiovascular endpoint in a community sample with and without prevalent cardiovascular disease.
RBD patients seem to have a milder OSA phenotype (possible reflecting a protective role conferred by the maintenance of muscle tone during REM sleep) and to be less prone to obesity and snoring than non-RBD patients.
The obstructive apnea-hypopnea index was higher in the supine position than in the other sleeping positions during NREM (p < 0.05), higher in the moderate/severe OSA group when sleeping in the supine position than when sleeping in the left and right lateral positions (p < 0.05 for both) and prone position (p = 0.007) during REM.
We presume that in patients with RBD and OSAS both pathologies contribute in varying degrees to the emergence of RBD symptoms by a destabilization of REM sleep.