Endothelial dysfunction and inflammatory reactions of elderly and middle-aged men with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Introduction Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is considered to be associated with cardiovascular complications, and atherosclerosis could mediate this relationship. Cardiovascular risk factors of OSAS still need to be elucidated in elderly patients, since studies about the association between OSAS and cardiovascular diseases have been done mainly in middle-aged adults. To investigate whether endothelial dysfunction, as an early marker of atherosclerosis, and inflammatory responses in OSAS were affected by age, we studied flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in elderly and middle-aged patients with OSAS.