Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and Cardiac Arrhythmias

This study is a prevelance trial looking at how sleep apnoea affects the heart especially heart rhythms. Previous research shows that patients suffering from sleep apnoea are much more likely to get heart disease and abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias). These defects are sometimes missed by the traditional methods of monitoring i.e. 24-hour Holter monitor and ECGs. This means potentially dangerous arrhythmias may not be detected. Additionally, standard therapy for sleep apnoea does not significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. This study will recruit 200 participants over a period of 18 months. The research team will observe the heart rhythms of sleep apnoea patients by inserting an implantable loop recorder (ILR) in up to 100 participants. The other 100 patients will simply have standard care. This device will monitor the heart continuously for 3 years allowing us to detect abnormal heart rhythms and treat as necessary. Demonstrating the incidence of arrhythmia can lead onto a larger study which may change future sleep apnoea management improving their cardiovascular outcomes. Other markers of heart disease such as; blood tests, Magnetocardiography and Echocardiography will be performed on participants to shed more light on the mechanisms which link sleep apnoea and heart disease/arrhythmia.