心房颤动和阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停:死亡率趋势反映疾病负担还是诊断差距?

IF 2.3 3区 医学 Q2 CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS
Naoya Kataoka, Teruhiko Imamura
{"title":"心房颤动和阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停:死亡率趋势反映疾病负担还是诊断差距?","authors":"Naoya Kataoka,&nbsp;Teruhiko Imamura","doi":"10.1002/clc.70200","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The authors demonstrated a striking and consistent rise in atrial fibrillation (AF)–related mortality involving obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), particularly among elderly, female, rural, and minority populations [<span>1</span>]. This important analysis highlights the growing public health burden of AF–OSA overlap. However, several issues merit further clarification and discussion.</p><p>The authors report a steep increase in AF-related mortality involving OSA over the past two decades [<span>1</span>]. However, as AF prevalence and mortality have also generally increased in the U.S. population [<span>2</span>], it is unclear whether the observed trend is specific to patients with comorbid OSA or merely reflects overall AF epidemiology. A comparative analysis of mortality trends in AF patients without OSA would be helpful to determine the additive risk associated with OSA.</p><p>During the study period (1999–2020), catheter ablation became increasingly adopted for rhythm control in AF [<span>3</span>]. Recent studies suggest that AF ablation is associated with improved long-term outcomes, particularly in younger male patients [<span>4</span>]. Yet, despite these advances, AF-related mortality in patients with OSA continued to rise. How do the authors interpret this apparent contradiction? Were these procedures less commonly used or less effective in the OSA subgroup?</p><p>The study identifies AF (ICD-10 I48.x) as the “underlying” cause of death and OSA (G47.33) as a “contributing” condition [<span>1</span>]. However, the clinical circumstances in which AF is recorded as the primary cause of death—distinct from its role as a comorbidity in stroke, heart failure, or sudden death—are not well defined. It would be informative to clarify how “AF-related mortality” was operationalized in this study and whether misclassification or variation in coding practices may have influenced the observed trends.</p><p>The authors correctly point out the rising burden of AF-related mortality in the presence of OSA [<span>1</span>]. Yet over the same period, mortality from stroke and heart failure—two major downstream complications of AF—has generally declined, partly due to improvements in anticoagulation and HF management [<span>5</span>]. This discrepancy raises the question of whether the increase in AF-related deaths reflects actual clinical deterioration or improved documentation of AF on death certificates.</p><p>While the use of CDC WONDER provides valuable national-level insights [<span>1</span>], the reliance on death certificate data introduces several limitations. OSA is often underdiagnosed, particularly among women, minorities, and older adults—groups in whom mortality increases were most pronounced. Additionally, data on OSA severity, AF subtype, comorbidities (e.g., heart failure, chronic kidney disease), and continuous positive airway pressure adherence were not available. These unmeasured variables may have played an important role in shaping the observed trends.</p><p>The authors declare no conflicts of interest.</p>","PeriodicalId":10201,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Cardiology","volume":"48 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/clc.70200","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Atrial Fibrillation and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Do Mortality Trends Reflect Disease Burden or Diagnostic Gaps?\",\"authors\":\"Naoya Kataoka,&nbsp;Teruhiko Imamura\",\"doi\":\"10.1002/clc.70200\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p>The authors demonstrated a striking and consistent rise in atrial fibrillation (AF)–related mortality involving obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), particularly among elderly, female, rural, and minority populations [<span>1</span>]. This important analysis highlights the growing public health burden of AF–OSA overlap. However, several issues merit further clarification and discussion.</p><p>The authors report a steep increase in AF-related mortality involving OSA over the past two decades [<span>1</span>]. However, as AF prevalence and mortality have also generally increased in the U.S. population [<span>2</span>], it is unclear whether the observed trend is specific to patients with comorbid OSA or merely reflects overall AF epidemiology. A comparative analysis of mortality trends in AF patients without OSA would be helpful to determine the additive risk associated with OSA.</p><p>During the study period (1999–2020), catheter ablation became increasingly adopted for rhythm control in AF [<span>3</span>]. Recent studies suggest that AF ablation is associated with improved long-term outcomes, particularly in younger male patients [<span>4</span>]. Yet, despite these advances, AF-related mortality in patients with OSA continued to rise. How do the authors interpret this apparent contradiction? Were these procedures less commonly used or less effective in the OSA subgroup?</p><p>The study identifies AF (ICD-10 I48.x) as the “underlying” cause of death and OSA (G47.33) as a “contributing” condition [<span>1</span>]. However, the clinical circumstances in which AF is recorded as the primary cause of death—distinct from its role as a comorbidity in stroke, heart failure, or sudden death—are not well defined. It would be informative to clarify how “AF-related mortality” was operationalized in this study and whether misclassification or variation in coding practices may have influenced the observed trends.</p><p>The authors correctly point out the rising burden of AF-related mortality in the presence of OSA [<span>1</span>]. Yet over the same period, mortality from stroke and heart failure—two major downstream complications of AF—has generally declined, partly due to improvements in anticoagulation and HF management [<span>5</span>]. This discrepancy raises the question of whether the increase in AF-related deaths reflects actual clinical deterioration or improved documentation of AF on death certificates.</p><p>While the use of CDC WONDER provides valuable national-level insights [<span>1</span>], the reliance on death certificate data introduces several limitations. OSA is often underdiagnosed, particularly among women, minorities, and older adults—groups in whom mortality increases were most pronounced. Additionally, data on OSA severity, AF subtype, comorbidities (e.g., heart failure, chronic kidney disease), and continuous positive airway pressure adherence were not available. These unmeasured variables may have played an important role in shaping the observed trends.</p><p>The authors declare no conflicts of interest.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":10201,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Clinical Cardiology\",\"volume\":\"48 9\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.3000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-08-28\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/clc.70200\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Clinical Cardiology\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/clc.70200\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Cardiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/clc.70200","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

摘要

作者证明了心房颤动(AF)相关的死亡率显著且持续上升,包括阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停(OSA),特别是在老年人、女性、农村和少数民族人群中。这一重要分析凸显了AF-OSA重叠造成的日益加重的公共卫生负担。然而,有几个问题值得进一步澄清和讨论。作者报告说,在过去的20年里,与呼吸暂停相关的死亡率急剧上升。然而,由于房颤的患病率和死亡率在美国人群中也普遍增加,目前尚不清楚观察到的趋势是针对合并OSA的患者,还是仅仅反映了房颤的总体流行病学。对无OSA的房颤患者的死亡率趋势进行比较分析将有助于确定与OSA相关的附加风险。在研究期间(1999-2020),导管消融越来越多地被用于房颤心律控制。最近的研究表明,房颤消融与长期预后的改善有关,特别是在年轻男性患者中。然而,尽管取得了这些进展,阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停患者与房颤相关的死亡率仍在继续上升。作者如何解释这个明显的矛盾?这些治疗方法在OSA亚组中是否较少使用或效果较差?该研究确定了AF (icd - 10i48)。x)为死亡的“潜在”原因,而呼吸暂停(G47.33)为“促成”病况[1]。然而,将房颤记录为主要死亡原因的临床情况——不同于其作为卒中、心力衰竭或猝死的合并症的作用——并没有很好的定义。澄清“af相关死亡率”在本研究中是如何操作的,以及错误分类或编码实践的变化是否可能影响观察到的趋势,将是有益的。作者正确地指出,在存在阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停的情况下,af相关死亡率的负担正在上升。然而,在同一时期,中风和心力衰竭(af的两大下游并发症)的死亡率普遍下降,部分原因是抗凝和心衰管理的改善。这一差异提出了一个问题,即AF相关死亡人数的增加是反映了实际的临床恶化,还是反映了死亡证明上AF记录的改善。虽然CDC WONDER的使用提供了有价值的国家级见解,但对死亡证明数据的依赖带来了一些限制。阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停经常被误诊,特别是在妇女、少数民族和老年人群体中,他们的死亡率增加最为明显。此外,没有关于OSA严重程度、房颤亚型、合并症(如心力衰竭、慢性肾脏疾病)和持续气道正压依从性的数据。这些无法测量的变量可能在形成观察到的趋势方面发挥了重要作用。作者声明无利益冲突。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
Atrial Fibrillation and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Do Mortality Trends Reflect Disease Burden or Diagnostic Gaps?

The authors demonstrated a striking and consistent rise in atrial fibrillation (AF)–related mortality involving obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), particularly among elderly, female, rural, and minority populations [1]. This important analysis highlights the growing public health burden of AF–OSA overlap. However, several issues merit further clarification and discussion.

The authors report a steep increase in AF-related mortality involving OSA over the past two decades [1]. However, as AF prevalence and mortality have also generally increased in the U.S. population [2], it is unclear whether the observed trend is specific to patients with comorbid OSA or merely reflects overall AF epidemiology. A comparative analysis of mortality trends in AF patients without OSA would be helpful to determine the additive risk associated with OSA.

During the study period (1999–2020), catheter ablation became increasingly adopted for rhythm control in AF [3]. Recent studies suggest that AF ablation is associated with improved long-term outcomes, particularly in younger male patients [4]. Yet, despite these advances, AF-related mortality in patients with OSA continued to rise. How do the authors interpret this apparent contradiction? Were these procedures less commonly used or less effective in the OSA subgroup?

The study identifies AF (ICD-10 I48.x) as the “underlying” cause of death and OSA (G47.33) as a “contributing” condition [1]. However, the clinical circumstances in which AF is recorded as the primary cause of death—distinct from its role as a comorbidity in stroke, heart failure, or sudden death—are not well defined. It would be informative to clarify how “AF-related mortality” was operationalized in this study and whether misclassification or variation in coding practices may have influenced the observed trends.

The authors correctly point out the rising burden of AF-related mortality in the presence of OSA [1]. Yet over the same period, mortality from stroke and heart failure—two major downstream complications of AF—has generally declined, partly due to improvements in anticoagulation and HF management [5]. This discrepancy raises the question of whether the increase in AF-related deaths reflects actual clinical deterioration or improved documentation of AF on death certificates.

While the use of CDC WONDER provides valuable national-level insights [1], the reliance on death certificate data introduces several limitations. OSA is often underdiagnosed, particularly among women, minorities, and older adults—groups in whom mortality increases were most pronounced. Additionally, data on OSA severity, AF subtype, comorbidities (e.g., heart failure, chronic kidney disease), and continuous positive airway pressure adherence were not available. These unmeasured variables may have played an important role in shaping the observed trends.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

求助全文
通过发布文献求助,成功后即可免费获取论文全文。 去求助
来源期刊
Clinical Cardiology
Clinical Cardiology 医学-心血管系统
CiteScore
5.10
自引率
3.70%
发文量
189
审稿时长
4-8 weeks
期刊介绍: Clinical Cardiology provides a fully Gold Open Access forum for the publication of original clinical research, as well as brief reviews of diagnostic and therapeutic issues in cardiovascular medicine and cardiovascular surgery. The journal includes Clinical Investigations, Reviews, free standing editorials and commentaries, and bonus online-only content. The journal also publishes supplements, Expert Panel Discussions, sponsored clinical Reviews, Trial Designs, and Quality and Outcomes.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:604180095
Book学术官方微信