Stroke and sleep apnea

Stroke and sleep apnea are highly prevalent conditions with a physiologically plausible bidirectional relationship.

Sleep apnea is highly prevalent poststroke. Poststroke sleep apnea is associated with worse poststroke functional and cognitive outcomes and a higher risk of recurrent stroke.

Physiologic tests are needed to diagnose sleep apnea in poststroke patients as sleep apnea questionnaires do not perform well in this population.

Sleep apnea is a well established independent risk factor for stroke that confers an approximately two-fold increased risk of incident stroke.

This area is an attractive target for research addressing secondary stroke prevention and recovery.