Kumar P, Verma AK, Bajpai J, Kar SK, Pradhan A, Kant S, Garg R, Kumar S, Kushwaha RAS, Verma SK, Bajaj DK, Srivastava A, Katiyar A. Pulmonary hypertension in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: Correlation with disease severity and quality of life. World J Cardiol 2026; 18(1): 112541 [DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v18.i1.112541]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jyoti Bajpai, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Respiratory Medicine, King George’s Medical University, Shahmina Road, Chowk, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India. jyotibajpai33@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jan 26, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 15, 2026
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Cardiology
ISSN
1949-8462
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Kumar P, Verma AK, Bajpai J, Kar SK, Pradhan A, Kant S, Garg R, Kumar S, Kushwaha RAS, Verma SK, Bajaj DK, Srivastava A, Katiyar A. Pulmonary hypertension in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: Correlation with disease severity and quality of life. World J Cardiol 2026; 18(1): 112541 [DOI: 10.4330/wjc.v18.i1.112541]
Praveen Kumar, Ajay Kumar Verma, Jyoti Bajpai, Surya Kant, Rajiv Garg, Santosh Kumar, Ram Avadh Singh Kushwaha, Sanjeev Kumar Verma, Darshan Kumar Bajaj, Anand Srivastava, Ankit Katiyar, Department of Respiratory Medicine, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Sujita Kumar Kar, Department of Psychiatry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Akshyaya Pradhan, Department of Cardiology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Co-first authors: Praveen Kumar and Ajay Kumar Verma.
Co-corresponding authors: Jyoti Bajpai and Akshyaya Pradhan.
Author contributions: Kumar P and Verma AK contribute equally to this study as co-first authors; Bajpai J and Pradhan A contribute equally to this study as co-corresponding authors; Kumar P and Verma AK conceived the project; Bajpai JB and Kar SK drafted the protocol; Pradhan AP, Kant S and Garg R performed the literature search; Kumar P, Verma AK and Bajpai J were involved in data acquisition; Kant S, Verma SK, Kushwaha RAS and Bajaj DK made the first draft; Pradhan A and Katiyar A critically reviewed it; Bajpai J and Pradhan A were involved in journal selection and submission; Kumar P, Verma AK, Bajpai J and Pradhan A were drafted the revised version; all authors read and approved the revised version.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of King George’s Medical University (No. 2522/Ethics/2024).
Informed consent statement: Informed and written consent was obtained from all participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data is available with corresponding author and can be shared on a request basis.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jyoti Bajpai, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Respiratory Medicine, King George’s Medical University, Shahmina Road, Chowk, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India. jyotibajpai33@gmail.com
Received: July 31, 2025 Revised: September 1, 2025 Accepted: November 21, 2025 Published online: January 26, 2026 Processing time: 168 Days and 19.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is increasingly recognized as a contributor to cardiovascular morbidity, including pulmonary hypertension (PH).
AIM
To assess the prevalence and severity of PH in newly diagnosed OSA patients and evaluate its association with disease severity and quality of life (QoL).
METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, 113 patients newly diagnosed with OSA underwent echocardiography to assess pulmonary artery pressures and completed the World Health Organisation Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. OSA severity was determined via polysomnography using the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Statistical correlations between AHI, right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP), and QoL domains were analyzed.
RESULTS
PH (defined by MPAP ≥ 20 mmHg) was observed in 71.68% of patients (MPAP ≥ 20 mmHg). Its prevalence increased with age and OSA severity (P < 0.01). The mean RVSP (39.4 mmHg in males vs 34.1 mmHg in females) and MPAP (27.76 mmHg in males vs 24.64 mmHg in females) values were slightly higher in males but the difference was not statistically significant. AHI and oxygen desaturation index positively correlated with RVSP (r = 0.677) and MPAP (r = 0.543). The WHOQOL-BREF scores were significantly lower in PH patients, particularly in physical and psychological domains (P < 0.01).
CONCLUSION
PH in OSA is strongly linked to disease severity, impairs right ventricular function, and reduces QoL. Findings are limited by the cross-sectional design and reliance on echocardiography instead of right heart catheterization.
Core Tip: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is increasingly recognized as a contributor to cardiovascular morbidity, including pulmonary hypertension (PH). This present cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence and severity of PH in newly diagnosed OSA patients. Furthermore, it assessed its association with disease severity and quality of life (QoL). PH is a prevalent and underdiagnosed complication of OSA that negatively impacts QoL. There is an imminent need for integration of echocardiographic screening and QoL assessments into the routine management of OSA.
