Analysis of pharynx MRI in stroke patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Abstract

Objective: Based on the pharyngeal morphological comparison between stroke patients with OSA and without OSA, this study aimed to investigate the relation between pharyngeal anatomy and OSA in stroke patients. Materials and Methods: Patients within 30 days of stroke underwent nocturnal polysomnography and got AHI, OAI. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for clinical purposes was performed to measure retro-palatal distance, soft palatal length, soft palatal thickness, retroglossal space, tongue length, high retropharyngeal area, low retro-pharyngeal area and minimum retro-pharyngeal area. When comparing the pharyngeal measurement data in the two different groups, correlation analysis was performed among the retro-palatal distance, the retroglossal space, the tongue length and AHI, OAI, CAI etc. Results: The retro-palatal distance of stoke patients with OSA was aberrantly shorter than the compared group (P=0.02), The tongue length was longer than the compared group (P value=0.05). The retro-palatal distance had a negative correlation with AHI and OAI (respectively R=-0.574/P=0.00 and R=-0.634/P=0.00), notably, as well as the retroglossal space had a negative correlation with the AHI and CAI, but it was not related with the OAI; The linear regression showed that the relationship between AHI, OAI and the retro-palatal distance are determined a statistical significance. Conclusion: The OSA of stroke is closely associated with pharyngeal morphology change.