Aim To investigate the relation between obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome （OSAHS） and progressive cerebral infarction. Methods 160 patients with acute cerebral infarction,according to the polysomnography （PSG） monitoring results,were divided into pure cerebral infarction group （n＝72） and cerebral infarction with OSAHS group （n＝88）.The related laboratory indexes and the percentage of progressive cerebral infarction were compared between the two groups.According to the sleep apnea hypopnea index （AHI）,the OSAHS group was divided into 3 subgroups: cerebral infarction with mild OSAHS group （28 cases）,cerebral infarction with moderate OSAHS group （29 cases）,cerebral infarction with severe OSAHS group （31 cases）.National Institute of Health Stroke Scale （NIHSS） score were compared among the 3 groups at seventh day after onset. Results The related laboratory indexes and the percentage of progressive cerebral infarction of the cerebral infarction with OSAHS group were higher than those of the pure cerebral infarction group,and the differences were statistically significant （P<0.01）.Cerebral infarction with severe OSAHS group had higher NIHSS score than cerebral infarction with moderate OSAHS group,cerebral infarction with moderate OSAHS group had higher NIHSS score than cerebral infarction with mild OSAHS group,and the differences were statistically significant （P<0.01）. Conclusion OSAHS can easily lead to exacerbation in patients with cerebral infarction,and the severity of OSAHS was positively correlated with the severity of cerebral infarction.