Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) has been studied rarely in patients with Cushing’s syndrome. We investigated the possible association between Cushıng’s syndrome and OSAS in this study.

Method: Thirty female patients with newly diagnosed Cushing’s syndrome and 30 female obese control subjects were included in this study. All the participants were evaluated by polysomnography. OSAS was defined as apneahypopnea index (AHI) of ≥5 events/hour. Body mass index (BMI) of the subjects was recorded and insulin resistance were calculated by HOMA score.

Results: The mean age and BMI of patients with Cushing’s syndrome and control subjects were similar. However, the mean fasting glucose, HOMA score and apnoea-hypopnoea index were higher in patients with Cushing’s syndrome compared to the control obese subjects (Table 1). 42% of patients with Cushıng’s syndrome and 10% of control subjects had OSAS.

Conclusion: The risk of OSAS increased in patients with Cushing’s syndrome, compared to control subjects with similar age and BMI. Insulin resistance and hypercortisolemia may have a meaningful role for this increment. Cushing’s syndrome is a strong risk factor in the development of OSAS. Therefore Cushing’s syndrome should be excluded in patients with OSAS and vice versa.