0461 Patterns of Tongue Thickness Changes in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients: A Whole-Night Simultaneous Ultrasound and Polysomnographic Study. (12th April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Jeng-Wen; Chang, Chun-Hsiang; Huang, Chih-Chung; Wang, Ya-Hui
• Is Part Of: Sleep. Volume 42(2019)Supplement 1
• Page Start: A185
• Page End: A186
• Publication Date: 2019-04-12
• Subjects: Sleep -- Physiological aspects -- Periodicals; Sleep disorders -- Periodicals; Sommeil -- Aspect physiologique -- Périodiques; Sommeil, Troubles du -- Périodiques; Sleep disorders; Sleep -- Physiological aspects; Sleep -- physiological aspects; Sleep Wake Disorders; Psychophysiology; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 616.8498
• DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsz067.460
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0161-8105

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Tongue deformation may play a critical role in the development of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We combined an ultrasound system with polysomnography (PSG) to simultaneously record changes in tongue thickness during a whole night's sleep. Methods: Our ultrasound system included a custom-designed curvilinear transducer. The center frequency of the probe was 3 MHz, and it had 16 channels. We placed the probe in the submental midline sagittal plane. We designed a dedicated ultrasound device to automatically detect maximum tongue thickness at a recording rate of 1 Hz. The device synchronizes with the PSG and transmits the measured data to a computer for storage. The system receives an A-line signal from each channel, determines the depth of the air-mucosal interface as the tongue thickness, and then registers the maximum tongue thickness and its channel number. We generated a "SonoPSG" report for each patient, reporting on the mean or median maximum tongue thickness and the distribution of the registered channels in various sleep stages as well as during various respiratory events. Results: In total, the study comprised 50 patients, including 15 without OSA, 7 with mild, 14 with moderate and 14 with severe OSA. We calculated the mean maximum tongue thickness during eupnea and respiratory events according to OSA severity. A mixed-model ANOVA demonstrated a significant difference between the groups. The distribution of the registered channels in eupnea and other respiratory events showed that when eupnea and snoring occurred, most registered channels were located in the second quartile of the tongue. However, when hypopnea or apnea occurred, most registered channels shifted posteriorly toward the third quartile of the tongue. Conclusion: With our novel ultrasound system, quantified tongue thickness results can be recorded during the whole night and synchronized with PSG. Future applications of our ultrasound system will involve an individualized treatment plan for each OSA patient, to verify treatment results, especially for those procedures targeting the tongue, and to investigate the pathophysiology of OSA. Support (If Any): None