Muscle fiber area distribution of musculus uvulae in obstructive sleep apnea and non-apneic snorers.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether differences exist in the morphology of upper airway muscles between apneic and non-apneic snorers


METHODS
Muscle characteristic analysis in patients undergoing upper airway surgery in a tertiary sleep center.


METHODS
10 non-apneic snorers and 10 sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (SAHS).


METHODS
Frequency distribution of musculus uvulae (MU) muscle fiber area determined from 475+/-207 (mean s.d.) and 697 +/- 165 type IIA fibers and 92 +/- 32 and 68 45 type I fibers in snorers and SAHS, respectively.


RESULTS
Histochemical analyses of MU revealed as expected that type IIA fibers occupied a significantly larger area within that muscle in SAHS compared to Snorers (89.4 +/- 5.8% and 76.1 +/- 15.1% respectively, P= 0.01). No difference was found in the frequency distribution of type I and type IIA fiber areas between the two groups comparing the between-groups and within-group variance of individual area distributions found in snorers and SAHS.


CONCLUSIONS
There is no difference in muscle fiber area frequency distribution between non-apneic snorers and SAHS patients. This suggests that musculus uvulae of these groups of patients does not have a specific prevalence of atrophic or hypertrophic muscle fibers.
Sériès
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Unité de recherche, Centre de pneumologie de l'hôpital Laval, Université Laval, Québec, Canada. Frederic.Series@med.ulaval.ca
Simoneau
J A
JA
St Pierre
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S
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012913:Snoring / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014609:Uvula / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000503:physiopathology