Sleep Apnea Syndrome and Community Acquired Pneumonia

The association of sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) with the infections of the lower airway has not been studied. The aspiration of secretions of the upper airway and the colonization by microorganisms is considered a main event in most of the cases of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) , and specially in the nosocomial pneumonia. The silent aspiration to the lower airway is a common phenomenon in normal subjects during the sleep and some studies has reported that the patients with SAHS present an increase of the risk to pharyngeal aspirations. In fact, the presence of nasal and bronchial inflammation in patients with SAHS is a recognized event. The patients with SAHS could have a risk increased to develop pneumonia due to predisposition to the pharyngeal microaspiration to lower airways during the sleep and other mechanical factors associated. The prevalence of SAHS in patients with CAP could be increased as regards the data published for the same Spanish population. The presence of an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) could be a risk factor not only to to CAP but to to present a unfavorable clinical evolution in comparison to patients with CAP with a normal AHI. The aim of this study will establish a relation between SAHS and the pneumonia risk.