Sonographic measurement of lateral parapharyngeal wall thickness and severity of childhood obstructive sleep apnoea

Abstract

Introduction: Sonographic measurement of lateral parapharyngeal wall (LPW) thickness was found to be associated with severity of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in an adult study. (Liu, K.H. et al. Sleep 2007; 30:1503-8) Whether it is independently associated with severity of OSA in paediatric population has not been investigated. Aims: To investigate the association between LPW thickness and obstructive apnoea hypopnoea index (OAHI) in children. We hypothesised that LPW thickness is associated with obstructive apnoea hypopnoea index (OAHI) in multivariate model adjusted for other correlates. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Children aged between 6 and 18 years who attended our sleep disorder clinic with symptoms suggestive of OSA were invited to participate. Children with no OSA symptoms were also recruited from aconcurrent population-based epidemiological study. All subjects underwent anthropometric measurements, nocturnal polysomnography, lateral x-ray cephalometry, tonsil size estimation and sonographic measurement of LPW thickness. Results: A total of 129 children [mean (SD) age = 10.2 (2.4), 72 boys] were included in the analysis. Their OAHI ranged from 0 to 46.9/h with a median (IQR) of 0.8 (0.2 to 3.9). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that larger tonsils ( p p p Conclusion: LPW thickness may be an independent risk factor for childhood OSA.