[The upper airway MRI of obstructive sleep apnea patients].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the mechanisms of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS) through observing the upper airway caliber and its corresponding pharyngeal wall of OSAS patients by MRI.


METHODS
The upper airway(UA) of 18 OSAS patients were examined by MRI. The cross-sectional area of the UA and lateral parapharyngeal fat pad (LPFP) were calculated. The thickness of lateral and posterior pharyngeal wall (LW & PW) and other related indices were also measured. Nineteen nonsnoring age-matched normal subjects were selected as the control group.


RESULTS
1. The retropalatal (RP) and retroglossal (RG) region UA cross-sectional areas of OSAS patients were smaller than that of the control (P < 0.05). The epiglottal (EPC) region UA cross-sectional area was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.204). 2. The anterior-posterior/Lateral ratio(A-P/L) of UA in RP, RG, EPG regions was bigger in patients group than that of the control (P < 0.05). 3. The cross-sectional area of LPFP in patients group was larger than that of the control group (P = 1.76E-7). 4. The thickness of the PW in the RP, RG and EPG region was thicker in patients group than that of the control (P < 0.05). Although the thickness of the LW in the RP region was not statistically different between the 2 groups (P = 0.94), this index in RG and EPG region was larger in patients group than that of the control (P = < 0.05). 5. Sagittal MRI image showed that the length, thickness and cross-sectional area of the palate in patient group was larger than that of the control (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The study suggests that the pathogenesis of OSAS is related to the following factors: UA caliber and its AP/L ratio, the thickness of LW and PW, the size of LPFP in RP region, and the size and length of the palate.
Lin
Z
Z
Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head Neck Surgery, Affiliated Beijing Tongren Hospiatal, Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. bjsent@public3.bta.net.cn
Zhang
H
H
Wang
T
T
Li
C
C
Bai
Z
Z
D000328:Adult; D004825:Epiglottis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000473:pathology*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000473:pathology*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000473:pathology*