Correlations between Morphology, the Functional Properties of Upper Airways, and the Severity of Sleep Apnea

Adriana Neagos; Mihai Dumitru; Cristian Mircea Neagos; Mihaela Mitroi; Daniela Vrinceanu

doi:10.3390/jcm11185347

Correlations between Morphology, the Functional Properties of Upper Airways, and the Severity of Sleep Apnea

J Clin Med. 2022 Sep 12;11(18):5347. doi: 10.3390/jcm11185347.

Authors

Adriana Neagos¹, Mihai Dumitru², Cristian Mircea Neagos³, Mihaela Mitroi⁴, Daniela Vrinceanu²

Affiliations

¹ ENT Department, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Targu Mures, 540142 Tirgu Mures, Romania.
² ENT Department, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 010271 Bucharest, Romania.
³ Faculty of Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 010271 Bucharest, Romania.
⁴ ENT Department, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 200349 Craiova, Romania.

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is considered the silent killer pathology of the new millennium. This is due to increased risk factors such as obesity. Healthcare systems face an increasing burden from severe cases of OSA. We performed a study on a group of 152 Romanian patients with OSA recording data obtained through polysomnography and cephalometric variables, recorded in lateral plain X-rays. The results confirmed some of the data available from previous studies worldwide, but some of the variables presented a positive statistical correlation specific to our study group. For example, the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) correlated with the uvula length but surprisingly did not correlate with body mass index (BMI) because obesity tends to become endemic in Romania. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies focusing on cephalometric data in Romanian OSA patients. The results obtained through this study will be further analyzed in research on larger groups of Romanian OSA patients.

Keywords: cephalometric; obstructive sleep apnea; severity.

Grants and funding

This study was carried out as part of the research project: “Supporting research into the evaluation of anatomical parameters involved in the appearance of sleep breathing pathology” Contract No. 8302/06.12.2021.