The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with positive airway pressure starting shortly after acute ischemic stroke (1) reduces recurrent stroke, acute coronary syndrome, and all-cause mortality 6 months after the event, and (2) improves stroke outcomes at 3 months in patients who experienced an ischemic stroke.

Sleep SMART has a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded-endpoint (PROBE) design. It is a multi-site, parallel-group superiority trial that compares 6 months of OSA treatment to usual care. The study includes two trials: a prevention study with an embedded recovery trial. 3062 subjects will be randomized over 5 years at 110 sites within the NINDS-funded StrokeNet clinical trials network.

Current Inclusion Criteria, as of 6/28/2024:

1. Ischemic stroke within the prior 7 days.
2. NIH Stroke Scale Score ≥1 at the time of enrollment

Previous Inclusion Criteria, prior to 6/28/2024:

1. Ischemic stroke or TIA with ABCD ≥4, within prior 14 days.

Exclusion Criteria (for entire time period):

1. pre-event inability to perform all of own basic ADLs
2. unable to obtain informed consent from subject or legally authorized representative
3. incarcerated
4. known pregnancy
5. current mechanical ventilation (can enroll later if this resolves) or tracheostomy
6. current use of positive airway pressure, or use within one month prior to stroke
7. anatomical or dermatologic anomaly that makes use of CPAP interface unfeasible
8. severe bullous lung disease
9. history of prior spontaneous pneumothorax or current pneumothorax
10. hypotension requiring current treatment with pressors (can enroll later if this resolves)
11. other specific medical circumstances that conceivably, in the opinion of the site PI, could render the patient at risk of harm from use of CPAP
12. massive epistaxis or previous history of massive epistaxis
13. cranial surgery or head trauma within the past 6 months, with known or possible CSF leak or pneumocephalus
14. recent hemicraniectomy or suboccipital craniectomy (i.e. those whose bone has not yet been replaced), or any other recent bone removal procedure for relief of intracranial pressure
15. current receipt of oxygen supplementation >4 liters per minute
16. current contact, droplet, respiratory/airborne precautions

We will comply with the NIH Data Sharing Policy, Policy on the Dissemination of NIH-Funded Clinical Trial Information, the Clinical Trials Registration and Results Information Submission rule, and StrokeNet SOP on Network Data Sharing Policy. NDMC statisticians will generate data files from each data table and in compliance with HIPAA regulations each table will be de-identified. A minimum number of derived variables necessary to reproduce the primary analysis will be created. Within a year from acceptance of the primary manuscript or no later than two years from database lock, the public-use data sets will be submitted to the NINDS data repository along with final version of the study protocol, data dictionary and a user guide. Data along with signals from sleep apnea recordings will be submitted to the NHLBI National Sleep Research Resource.

Eligible participants will be allocated in a 1:1 fashion to CPAP or no CPAP using a randomization method to protect subject treatment allocation and prevent potential selection biases.