Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy and Long-Term Outcomes in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease and Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly common in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and it is a strong predictor of subsequent cardiovascular events. However, whether treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) can decrease this risk remains controversial. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were systematically searched to identify randomized clinical trials reporting cardiovascular events from database inception to February 12, 2022. Results : Four trials with 3043 participants were included. The median follow-up duration ranged from 3 to 4.75 years. Compared with usual care alone, CPAP was not associated with decreased MACCE risk (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.77–1.21, P = 0.75), and the results were consistent regardless of CPAP adherence (≥4 hours/night vs.