Electrocardiographic indicators of atrial fibrillation in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a retrospective analysis of P wave peak time

Aims: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a sleep-related breathing disorder characterized by hypopnea and apnea. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an arrhythmia frequently encountered in cardiology practice, with concomitant heart disease and an increasing incidence with age. OSAS and AF are closely related as they have similar etiological risk factors and common pathophysiological processes such as inflammation, oxidative cellular damage, and autonomic nervous system dysregulation. P-wave peak time (PWPT) is the time from the beginning of the P-wave to its peak and is a recently defined electrocardiographic (ECG) parameter. Studies on the relationship between PWPT and cardiovascular events have been published recently. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the risk of AF in OSAS patients by determining a new ECG parameter, PWPT. Methods: 52 OSAS patients and 41 healthy individuals as a control group were included in the study. The groups were compared in terms of demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, echocardiography and ECG findings. D2 and V1 leads were used for PWPT as recommended in the literature. Results: When the patient group was compared with the control group, no difference was found in terms of demographic characteristics and laboratory findings. Compared with the control group, OSAS patients had significantly longer PWPT (PWPTV1 55.05msn ± 7.18 msn vs 48.91 msn ± 7.08 msn, p<.01, PWPTD2 54.13 msn ± 5.60 msn vs 46.20 msn ± 6.94 msn, p<.01). Conclusion: We observed that PWPT was longer in OSAS patients than in controls, and our results suggest that OSAS patients are at risk of AF.