This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

CPAP, MADs comparably reduce BP in patients with sleep apnea

Both continuous positive airway pressure and mandibular advancement devices significantly reduced both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, according to recent research published in JAMA.

“Among patients with obstructive sleep apnea, both CPAP and [mandibular advancement device (MADs)] were associated with reductions in [blood pressure (BP)],” Daniel J. Bratton, PhD, a researcher from the department of pulmonology at the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland, and colleagues wrote. “Network meta-analysis did not identify a statistically significant difference between the BP outcomes associated with these therapies.”

Bratton and colleagues searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and EMBASE databases to identify patients with OSA from randomized clinical trials who used either CPAP or MADs to compare changes in BP, according to the abstract. They identified 51 studies with 4,888 patients that met inclusion criteria. Forty-four of studies compared CPAP with a control group; three studies analyzed MADs with a control group; three additional studies analyzed CPAP, MADs and a control group; and one study compared a CPAP group with a MADs group.

The researchers found that CPAP reduced systolic BP by 2.5 mm Hg (95% CI, 1.5-3.5) and diastolic BP by 2.0 mm Hg (95% CI, 1.3-2.7) compared with a control group, according to the abstract.

Further, Bratton and colleagues found an extra hour of CPAP in these patients was associated with an additional reduction of 1.5 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.8-2.3) for systolic BP and a reduction of 0.9 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.3-1.4) for diastolic BP.

Researchers observed with MADs a reduction of 2.1 mm Hg for systolic BP (95% CI, 0.8-3.4) and a reduction of 1.9 mm Hg for diastolic BP (95% CI, 0.5-3.2) when compared with a control group, according to the abstract.

However, the researchers noted no significant difference between change in systolic BP and diastolic BP when comparing CPAP and MADs. – by Jeff Craven

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.