Syndrome d'apnées obstructives du sommeil et événements cardiovasculaires : quel niveau de preuve ?

Relationship between obstructive sleep apnoeas and cardiovascular risk seems intuitive. Otherwise, the level of evidence of this relationship is uncertain in medical literature. Is there really a statistical link between cardiovascular risk and obstructive sleep apnoeas? Is this link powerful enough to change our medical practice? Most of studies are based on heterogeneous populations. Moreover, it uses cardiovascular risk surrogate markers, as arterial hypertension. These surrogate markers are not suitable to the study of cardiovascular risk. As in many examples in clinical research, external applicability should be discussed and cautiously accepted. Let's go back to the scientific definition of the causal relationship.