Ultrasound measurement of upper airway related indicators and patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea correlation study of disease severity

Abstract

Objective:To compare the difference of upper airway anatomy between non-obstructive sleep apnea（OSA） patients and OSA patients, and to analyse the correlation between upper airway anatomy and the disease severity based on the upper airway ultrasound examination. Methods:Eighty-five OSA patients （OSA group） and 36 non-OSA subjects （non-OSA group） who were admitted to the Second Hosipital of Shenzhen from January 2021 to May 2021 were recruited to perform upper airway ultrasound measurement. The airway anatomical parameters were compared and analyzed by t-test. The Spearman correlation analysis was performed on the ultrasound measurement values of OSA patients with the apnea-hypopnea index （AHI） and minimum blood oxygen saturation （ LSaO2）. Results:There were statistically significant differences in BMI, the distance between the soft and hard palate junction and the hyoid bone, the angle between the hard palate and the soft palate, and the angle between the hyoid bone and the hard palate between the OSA group and the non-OSA group（P<0.001，respectively）; For 85 cases of OSA， correlation analysis between the patient's upper airway B-ultrasound measurements and AHI and LSaO2 showed that the distance from the soft and hard palate junction to the mandible, the distance from the soft and hard palate junction to the hyoid bone, the thickness of the tongue（longitudinal section）, and the thickness of the soft palate（longitudinal section）are positively correlated with AHI（r=0.3758, 0.4619, 0.3227, 0.2738, P<0.05, respectively）; the distance from the soft and hard palate to the mandible, the distance from the soft and hard palate to the hyoid bone, the width of tongue（transverse section），and the tongue thickness（longitudinal section） are negatively correlated with LSaO2（r=-0.3566, -0.5470, -0.3168, -0.3098, P<0.05, respectively）; the angle between the hard palate and the soft palate is negatively correlated with AHI（r=-0.2262, P<0.05）; the angle between the hyoid bone and the hard palate is positively correlated with AHI and negatively correlated with LSaO2（r=0.2889, -0.3351, P<0.01）. Conclusion:The upper airway related anatomical parameters based on ultrasound measurement, such as the distance from the soft and hard palate junction to the mandible, the distance from the soft and hard palate junction to the hyoid bone, the angle between the hyoid bone and the hard palate, and the angle between the hard palate and the soft palate, etc.， are associated with the disease severity in OSA patients. The correlation may be used as a potential objective indicator to evaluate the severity of patients with OSA.