Obstructive sleep apnea in pregnancy. Is it a new syndrome in obstetrics?

Background: Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a frequent disorder and its severity superfats as pregnancy progresses. The exact prevalence or incidence of such disorder in pregnant women is still unknown. Objectives: To assess the incidence and severity of OSA in pregnant women and to discover the risk factors for OSA during pregnancy. Methods: A total of 30 pregnant women and 30 age matched controls completed Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Stop-Bang questionnaire. SDB diagnosis was based on polysomnography. Results: The incidence of OSA among our studied pregnant women was 36.7% and 53.3% of pregnant women were snorers. They demonstrated significantly higher AHI (4.38 ± 4.45) and ODI (3.72 ± 4.03). There was a significant positive correlation between gestational age and ESS, BMI, AHI and ODI, as they are of their highest levels among cases in the third trimester. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that gestational age and body mass index were independent risk factors with odds ratio (2.23 & 4.99) and 95% CI (1.05–5.32 & 1.75–33.28) respectively while the neck circumference and ESS were considered as dependent risk factors. Conclusion: Pregnancy is a risk condition for OSA which aggravated by neck circumference and base line BMI. The susceptibility and severity increase by increasing gestational age.