Cerebellar volumes and theintrinsic cerebellar network in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Abstract

This research aimed to explore changes in both cerebellar volume and the intrinsic cerebellar network in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Newly diagnosed OSA patients and healthy controls were included in the study. All participants underwent three-dimensional T1-weighted imaging using a 3-T MRI scanner. Cerebellar volumes, both overall and subdivided, were quantified using the ACAPULCO program. The intrinsic cerebellar network was assessed using the BRAPH program, which applied graph theory to the cerebellar volume subdivision. Comparisons were drawn between the patients withOSA and healthy controls. The study revealed that the 26 patients withOSA exhibited a notably lower total cerebellar volume compared to the 28healthy controls (8.330 vs. 9.068%, p < 0.001). The volume of the left lobule VIIB was reduced in patients with OSA compared to healthy controls (0.339 vs. 0.407%, p = 0.001). Among patients withOSA, there wasa negative correlation between the volume of the left lobule X and apnea-hypopnea index during non-rapid eye movement sleep (r = - 0.536, p = 0.005). However, no significant differences were observed in the intrinsic cerebellar network between patients and healthy controls. This study established that patients withOSA exhibited decreased total cerebellar volumes and particularly reduced volumes in subdivisions such as the left lobule VIIB compared to healthy controls. These findings suggest potential involvement of the cerebellum in the underlying mechanisms of OSA.