Predicting heart failure symptoms from the apnoea–hypopnoea index determined by full‐ night polysomnography

Abstract Aims Sleep‐disordered breathing (SDB) is closely related to cardiovascular diseases. The higher the apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI), the higher the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Despite these findings suggesting a close link between SDB and heart failure, the relationship between the severity of SDB and the onset of heart failure symptoms in individuals without apparent heart failure symptoms (Heart Failure Stage A + B) remains poorly understood. Methods and results Between December 2010 and June 2017, we conducted full‐night polysomnography (PSG) at the Nippon Medical School Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, extracting patients who were at risk of heart failure (Stage A or B in the Heart Failure Guidelines). Using a median cut‐off of AHI ≥ 41.6 events/hour, we divided the patients into two groups and examined the composite endpoint of all‐cause mortality plus hospitalization due to heart failure as the primary endpoint. We included 230 patients (mean age 63.0 ± 12.5 years, 78.3% males) meeting the selection criteria. When comparing the two groups, those with AHI