Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with atrial fibrillation. This study is to evaluate the effect of continuous positive airway pressure on the burden of atrial fibrillation in the patients with obstructive sleep apnea and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.


Clinical Trial Description

Traditional risk factors for AF were established from the original Framingham Heart Study cohort which showed aging, hypertension, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and diabetes mellitus (DM) as independent risk factors. In the past decade, several important risk factors not encompassed in previous studies have also been found to have a link with AF. One of these newly-identified risk factors is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which has been listed as one of the risk factor needed to be assessed and treated in AF patients. OSA and AF often co-exist and indeed share some risk factors, such as hypertension. AF Patients are more likely to have OSA, with reported prevalence rates of OSA (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] ≥15) as high as 62% in AF cohorts from hospital-based studies. In community-based cohort studies, a cross-sectional analysis from sleep heart health study (SHSS) found those with sleep-disordered breathing(SDB)/sleep apnea (SA) (respiratory disturbance index [RDI] ≥ 30) had four times the odds of a polysomnography (PSG)-detected nocturnal AF as compared to those without SDB/SA after adjusting confounders. Following from this, a cross-sectional study on Outcomes of Sleep Disorders in Older Men Study (MrOS Sleep Study) showed a dose-response association between RDI and AF. There are several pathophysiological mechanisms by which OSA could potentially increase the risk of development of new AF, or trigger a recurrence of AF in a patient with an established history of AF. OSA is characterized by repetitive collapse of the upper airway (UA) during sleep. The UA collapses when sleep-related loss in UA dilator muscle tone is superimposed upon a narrow and/or collapsible airway. These obstructive apneas or hypopneas, characterized by unsuccessful inspiratory efforts against an occluded airway, lead to 1) exaggerated negative intrathoracic pressure swings 2) hypoxia, and 3) co-activation of sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, all of which have been shown to potentiate a pro-arrhythmic state. Given that these mechanisms are pro-arrhythmic, CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), the gold standard therapy for OSA, works by splinting the upper airway open during sleep with subsequent abolition of swings in pressure, hypoxia and arousals, can potentially modify the risk of development of AF or recurrence of AF in OSA patients. There is a growing body of literature supporting that OSA being as a risk factor for recurrence of AF after cardioversion or ablation and treatment of OSA with CPAP decreased the risk of recurrence of AF. Nevertheless, all of the aforementioned studies are observational or retrospective in nature. Recently, Caples et al. conducted the first randomized control trial using CPAP in patients with AF and OSA but failed to find a difference of recurrence of AF between those treated with CPAP versus usual care. Notably, there are several issues in the study design and methodology that do not allow for firm conclusion from the results of this study. It was a single-center study, enrolling very small number of patients, and used a low cut-off AHI>5/h as inclusion criteria. More importantly, only patients with persistent AF scheduled for cardioversion were included. Given the natural time-course from paroxysmal AF to persistent AF, long-term remodeling or established atrial arrythmogenic substrate in persistent AF may be less or not reversible even when the initial risk factor is removed. In this regard, early intervention with CPAP in patients with paroxysmal AF and OSA, which has never been done in previous studies, should confer a better antiarrythmic effect. Therefore, the investigators aim to test the hypothesis that treatment of OSA with CPAP would reduce the burden of AF in patients with paroxysmal AF. ;


Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT04513483
Study type Interventional
Source National Taiwan University Hospital
Contact Chih-Chieh C Yu, MD.PhD
Phone 886-2-23123456
Email sweetchieh@gmail.com
Status Recruiting
Phase N/A
Start date August 7, 2020
Completion date December 31, 2026

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Recruiting NCT05654272 - Development of CIRC Technologies
Terminated NCT04115735 - His Bundle Recording From Subclavian Vein
Completed NCT04571385 - A Study Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of AP30663 for Cardioversion in Participants With Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Phase 2
Completed NCT05366803 - Women's Health Initiative Silent Atrial Fibrillation Recording Study N/A
Completed NCT02864758 - Benefit-Risk Of Arterial THrombotic prEvention With Rivaroxaban for Atrial Fibrillation in France
Recruiting NCT05442203 - Electrocardiogram-based Artificial Intelligence-assisted Detection of Heart Disease N/A
Completed NCT05599308 - Evaluation of Blood Pressure Monitor With AFib Screening Feature N/A
Completed NCT03790917 - Assessment of Adherence to New Oral anTicoagulants in Atrial Fibrillation patiEnts Within the Outpatient registrY
Enrolling by invitation NCT05890274 - Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and Electrocardiogram (EKG) Interpretation Project ECHO N/A
Recruiting NCT05266144 - Atrial Fibrillation Patients Treated With Catheter Ablation
Recruiting NCT05316870 - Construction and Effect Evaluation of Anticoagulation Management Model in Atrial Fibrillation N/A
Not yet recruiting NCT06023784 - The Impact of LBBAP vs RVP on the Incidence of New-onset Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Atrioventricular Block N/A
Recruiting NCT05572814 - Transform: Teaching, Technology, and Teams N/A
Recruiting NCT04092985 - Smart Watch iECG for the Detection of Cardiac Arrhythmias
Completed NCT04087122 - Evaluate the Efficiency Impact of Conducting Active Temperature Management During Cardiac Cryoablation Procedures N/A
Completed NCT06283654 - Relieving the Emergency Department by Using a 1-lead ECG Device for Atrial Fibrillation Patients After Pulmonary Vein Isolation
Recruiting NCT05416086 - iCLAS™ Cryoablation System Post-Market Clinical Follow-up (PMCF) Study N/A
Completed NCT05067114 - Solutions for Atrial Fibrillation Edvocacy (SAFE)
Completed NCT04546763 - Study Watch AF Detection At Home
Completed NCT03761394 - Pulsewatch: Smartwatch Monitoring for Atrial Fibrillation After Stroke N/A