Is obstructive sleep apnea associated with REM-sleep behaviour disorder in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease?

Objective: Over the past year a variety of sleep disorders have been associated with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPS). While there is agreement that REM-sleep behavioural disorder (RBD) is an early clinical manifestation of IPS, it has been controversially debated whether patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPS) are prone to develop obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A recently published study in IPS patients with and without disturbed sleep (Cochen de Cock, 2009) found a higher apnea-hypopnea-index (AHI) – as an expression of OSA – in IPS patients with RBD than in those IPS patients without RBD. In li…