Continuous positive airway pressure and platelet activation in obstructive sleep apnoea.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a complex condition associated with a number of cardiovascular sequelae including hypertension (both systemic and pulmonary), congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, myocardial infarction and stroke [1-6]. However, the recent American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology scientific statement on sleep apnoea suggests that there is a paucity of data for a causal role of OSA in cardiovascular disease [7] which underlines the importance of studies such as that of Akinnusi and co-workers in this edition of Respiration that are aimed at understanding the pathophysiology of OSA[8].