Reliability of Home Sleep Apnea Testing for Diagnosing Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients With Spontaneous Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks

James D Johns; Armin Mortazavi; Alexandra Welschmeyer; H Jeffrey Kim; Suzette K Mikula; Michael Hoa

doi:10.7759/cureus.29854

Reliability of Home Sleep Apnea Testing for Diagnosing Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients With Spontaneous Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks

Cureus. 2022 Oct 3;14(10):e29854. doi: 10.7759/cureus.29854. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

James D Johns¹, Armin Mortazavi², Alexandra Welschmeyer², H Jeffrey Kim¹, Suzette K Mikula¹, Michael Hoa¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C., USA.
² Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., USA.

Abstract

Study objectives: To establish the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (sCSF) leaks and demonstrate the reliability of home sleep apnea testing (HSAT) to screen for OSA in this population.

Methods: A literature review was performed to assess data on OSA prevalence in sCSF leaks. An institutional retrospective review was performed of 20 patients with sCSF leaks who met inclusion criteria. Patients without prior sleep studies were prospectively administered sleep studies, either HSAT or polysomnogram (PSG).

Results: Twenty patients met the inclusion criteria. Two patients had prior sleep studies while 18 patients obtained prospective sleep studies following diagnosis and prior to management of sCSF leaks. Nineteen patients (95%) had evidence of mild or greater OSA.

Conclusions: This study re-demonstrates the high prevalence of OSA in patients with sCSF leaks, consistent with current literature, and investigates the reliability of HSAT for diagnosis of OSA in this population.

Keywords: home sleep apnea testing; obesity; obstructive sleep apnea; polysomnography; spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak.