Investigating Sleep Duration and Vascular Inflammation in Patients with Sleep Apnea using Multi-modality Imaging: Hybrid Positron Emission Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging
2019 Physician Scientist Training Grant
Vaishnavi Kundel, MD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Key Project Outcomes
Short sleep duration is associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Our study assessed the relationship between objective sleep duration using actigraphy and vascular inflammation employing hybrid-positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance (PET/MRI) imaging with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose tracer in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis cohort. We found that prevalence of pathologic vascular inflammation was higher among those who slept ≤ 6 hours, and increased sleep fragmentation was positively associated with arterial (carotid) wall thickness. Our results suggest that both habitual sleep duration and sleep fragmentation should be investigated in future studies as potential risk factors for subclinical atherosclerosis. Moreover, utilizing multi-modality imaging to differentiate between inflammatory and structural endpoints for atherosclerosis may provide novel insights into understanding how sleep impacts vascular health on a variety of fronts.