Comparison of the Apnea-Hypopnea Index Determined by a Peripheral Arterial Tonometry-Based Device With That Determined by Polysomnography - Results From a Multicenter Study.

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is prevalent and associated with increased mortality in patients both with and without cardiovascular disease (CVD). Many portable monitoring devices, including peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT)-based devices, have been developed. Although previous studies have demonstrated that the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) determined by PAT devices (pAHI) is strongly correlated with AHI determined by polysomnography (AHI-PSG), no data have been reported from a Japanese patient population or patients with CVD. In this study we compared the parameters determined by PAT-based devices with those determined by polysomnography in Japanese patients with CVD. We enrolled 120 patients undergoing overnight polysomnography at 6 Japanese centers. A PAT-based device was used simultaneously with polysomnography. Polysomnography recordings were scored centrally by a technician in a blinded manner. PAT-based device recordings were scored using an automatic algorithm. There was a strong correlation between pAHI and AHI-PSG (r=0.896; P<0.001) with acceptable agreement. The strong correlation between pAHI and AHI-PSG was observed in patients with CVD (n=55; P=0.849; P<0.001) and without CVD (n=65; r=0.927; P<0.001). The presence or absence of CVD did not affect the relationship between pAHI and AHI-PSG (P=0.225). A PAT-based device provides a reliable AHI in a Japanese patient population, even in patients with CVD. These findings may help reduce the number of patients with undiagnosed SDB and CVD.