Abstract:Objective To investigate the application value of ambulatory electrocardiography(AECG) examination in screening sleep apnea syndrome(SAS). Methods AECG examination was performed on 121 patients with different degrees of sleep snoring. AECG and respiratory waves were extracted synchronously with secondgeneration SAS initial screening technology by DMS Company. Meanwhile, polysomnography(PSG) examination was performed on the patients and positive rate was compared. Results In 121 enrolled patients, PSG examination reported 40 negative cases and 81 positive ones including 25 with mild SAS, 42 with moderate SAS and 14 with severe SAS. AECG examination found 46 negative cases and 75 positive ones. There were 72 cases found positive both in AECG examination and PSG monitoring. The diagnostic positive rate of AECG and PSG were coincident for patients with moderate and severe sleep snoring. However, the detection rate of AECG was comparatively lower in patients with mild sleep snoring, and false positive phenomenon was observed. For moderate and severe SAS patients, the positive detection rate of AECG was significantly higher than that of mild cases, with statistically significant difference(P<0.05). Conclusion AECG is an easy, convenient, practical and reliable method to detect SAS. For its great effect in screening SAS, AECG can be recommended for clinical diagnosis.