ArticleHeart rhythm2020
Skin sympathetic nerve activity in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
Article in Heart rhythm, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sympathetic Activation and Sleep-Related Movements: Integrating Autonomic, Dopaminergic, and Iron Deficiency Mechanisms.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Multiple machine-learning-driven metabolic frameworks for long-term prognostic risk assessment in patients with coexisting hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea:insights from a multicenter cohort study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Prediction of intradialytic hypotension based on heart rate variability and skin sympathetic nerve activity using LASSO-enabled feature selection: a two-center study.Renal failure · 2025Article
- Improved non-invasive detection of sleep stages when combining skin sympathetic nerve activity and heart rate variability analysis with AI.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Sleep Disruption and Atrial Fibrillation: Evidence, Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.Circulation research · 2025Review
- Autonomic Nervous Regulation was Associated with Sleep Quality Among Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.Nature and science of sleep · 2025Article
- Cardiovascular Events Risk in Office-Masked Nocturnal Hypertension Defined by Home Blood Pressure Monitoring.JACC. Advances · 2024Article
- Renal autonomic dynamics in hypertension: how can we evaluate sympathetic activity for renal denervation?Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2024Review
- Impact of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sympathetic Nervous System on Cardiac Health: A Comprehensive Review.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2024Review
- Skin sympathetic nerve activity as a biomarker for outcomes in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2023Article
- Evaluation of autonomic nervous system activity in intradialytic hypotension using entropy and skin sympathetic nerve activity.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Successful continuous positive airway pressure treatment reduces skin sympathetic nerve activity in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.Heart rhythm · 2022Article
- The Mechanism of Cardiac Sympathetic Activity Assessment Methods: Current Knowledge.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Review
- Autonomic nervous activity analysis based on visibility graph complex networks and skin sympathetic nerve activity.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Dynamics of Cardiac Autonomic Responses During Hemodialysis Measured by Heart Rate Variability and Skin Sympathetic Nerve Activity: The Impact of Interdialytic Weight Gain.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Sleep Apnea and Atrial Fibrillation: Role of the Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System.Methodist DeBakey cardiovascular journal · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased cardiac arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. We recently developed a new method (neuECG) to noninvasively measure electrocardiogram and skin sympathetic nerve activity (SKNA).
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that SKNA measured during sleep study is higher in patients with OSA than in those without OSA.
methodsWe prospectively recorded neuECG and polysomnography in 26 patients undergoing a sleep study. Sleep stages were scored into rapid eye movement (REM), and non-REM sleep stages 1 (N1), 2 (N2), and 3 (N3). Average voltage of skin sympathetic nerve activity (aSKNA) and SKNA burst area were calculated for quantification. Apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) >5 per hour was used to diagnose OSA.
resultsThere was a positive correlation (r = 0.549; P = .018) between SKNA burst area and the arousal index in OSA but not in the control group. aSKNA during sleep was 0.61 ± 0.09 μV in OSA patients (n = 18) and 0.53 ± 0.04 μV in control patients (n = 8; P = .025). Burst area was 3.26 (1.90-4.47) μV·s/min in OSA patients and 1.31 (0.67-1.94) μV·s/min in control (P = .047). More apparent differences were found during N2, when the burst area in OSA (3.06 [1.46-5.52] μV·s/min) was much higher than that of the control (0.89 [0.79-1.65] μV·s/min; P = .03).
conclusionOSA patients have higher SKNA activity than control patients, with the most pronounced differences observed during N2. Arousal at the end of apnea episodes is associated with large SKNA bursts. Overlaps of aSKNA and SKNA burst area between groups suggest that not all OSA patients have increased sympathetic tone.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.