Patients with Down syndrome (DS) often have a high occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea (OSA) syndrome. We studied a large cohort of adults with DS attended due to clinical suspicion of OSA. A standardized questionnaire and full medical assessment were conducted, including a sleep study. One hundred and fiftyseven DS individuals were studied, with a mean ± SD age of 36 ± 10 years, 40.7% women, BMI 29.4 ± 5.6 kg/m 2. The main clinical symptom was daytime sleepiness (64.9%). A sleep study was conducted in 114 patients. All 114 DS patients were diagnosed with OSA, with a predominance of obstructive and hypopnea events, (apneahypopnoea index, AHI, 35.0 ± 26.6), with an oxygen desaturation index of 32.9, and a Tc90% of 24.7%. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment was implemented in 75 (65.8%) of subjects. Tolerance was considered good in 75% of them, with a high compliance of 79.2% >4 hr/day (mean 7.1 hr/day), resulting in a symptomatic improvement in 58.7% of them. Obstructive sleep apnea is frequently confirmed in patients with DS when it clinically suspected.
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