title: Superior pharyngeal constrictor activation in obstructive sleep apnea.
abstract: Respiratory-related superior pharyngeal constrictor (SPC) muscle activity was determined in 18 obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients during wakefulness and sleep. Hooked-wire electrodes were implanted into the SPC muscle via a nasopharyngoscope. During quiet breathing in wakefulness, phasic expiratory SPC-muscle activity was consistently present in six subjects and intermittently present in 12 subjects, particularly following a swallow. The SPC muscle showed two patterns of activation during spontaneous obstructive apneic episodes in non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep: (1) activation during airway reopening, with or without waning phasic or tonic activation in the first half of the ensuing apnea (n = 13); and (2) absence of activation during apneas or arousals (n = 5). Activation on airway reopening following spontaneous apneas usually occurred on inspiration. When the apneic episodes were eliminated by application of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), SPC-muscle activity was absent in NREM sleep in 16 subjects, but phasic expiratory activity persisted in two subjects. Sudden withdrawal of nasal CPAP in NREM sleep induced airway closure without a change in SPC-muscle activity. Arousal prior to or immediately after reapplication of nasal CPAP was associated with SPC-muscle activation during inspiration or expiration, and airway reopening. The results in OSA subjects indicate that SPC-muscle activation is similar to that of pharyngeal dilator muscles during spontaneous and induced apneas, and is not necessary to induce upper-airway closure during NREM sleep in OSA subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-0561, USA.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kuna
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Smickley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology*; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017286:Polysomnography; D011175:Positive-Pressure Respiration; D012119:Respiration / Q000502:physiology; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology*