Background
Sleep-disordered breathing, particularly obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), has been associated with increased atrial arrhythmia burden in various populations (1). The Boston Scientific HeartLogic platform offers continuous, multiparametric monitoring and atrial arrhythmia burden. We aimed to evaluate the association between device-detected OSA severity and atrial arrhythmia duration in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) or cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-D) enabled with HeartLogic.
Methods
We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult patients monitored via the Boston Scientific HeartLogic platform between January 2018 and December 2023. Patients without complete remote monitoring data or inactive HeartLogic indices were excluded. Obstructive sleep apnea severity was estimated using the AP Scan-derived Apnoea-Hypopnoea Index (AHI) equivalent. Atrial arrhythmia burden was calculated as the average daily duration of atrial high-rate episodes.
Results
Among patients who had atrial arrythmias, a significant positive association was found between increasing AHI and atrial arrhythmia duration. For every 1-unit increase in AHI, arrhythmia burden increased by approximately 10.55 seconds/day (p = 0.005). Compared to patients with no sleep apnea, those with Mild, Moderate, and Severe AHI had significantly higher daily arrhythmia durations compared to baseline by 2.8, 2.8, and 3.0 hours respectively (all p < 0.001).
Conclusion
Device-detected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was found to be associated with increased atrial arrhythmia burden in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) monitored by the HeartLogic platform. These findings generate important hypotheses regarding the integration of remote OSA surveillance into arrhythmia risk stratification and heart failure management and warrant further prospective investigation.