Shigeta Yuko, Ogawa Takumi, Tomoko Ikawa, Clark Glenn T, Enciso Reyes
Orofacial Pain/Oral Medicine Center, Division of Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0641, USA
Tex Dent J. 2013 Mar;130(3):203-11.
The narrowest area of the airway between the posterior nasal opening and the epiglottis is usually located in the retro palatal area. Many consider this the most likely site of airway obstruction during an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) event. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in soft palate and airway length between OSA and non-OSA patients.
In this study, we analyzed the ratio of the soft palate and the upper airway length in 45 consecutive patients. Twenty-five had an Apnea-Hypoapnea Index of more than 5 events per hour and were classified in the OSA group (male, 19; female, 6). These patients were compared with 20 normal controls (male, 12; female, 8). Controls who complained of snoring did have sleep studies (n = 5). The other fifteen controls were clinically asymptomatic and did not have sleep studies. Medical computed tomography scans were taken to determine the length of the upper airway and the soft palate length measured in the midsagittal image.
Soft palate length was significantly larger in OSA patients compared to controls (p = 0.009), and in men compared to women (p = 0.002). However, there were no differences in airway length. The soft palate length, as a percent of oropharyngeal airway length, was significantly larger in OSA patients compared to controls (p = < 0.0001) and in men compared to women (p = 0.02). Soft palate length increases significantly with age by 0.3 mm per year in males (after adjustment for body mass index (BMI) and OSA). Soft palate length as a percent of airway length is larger in OSA patients and increases significantly with BMI in males only after adjusting for age.
In this study, OSA patients had a longer soft palate in proportion to their oropharyngeal airway compared to controls as well as men compared to women. This proportion could be used for identifying patients at risk for OSA in combination with age.
后鼻孔与会厌之间气道最狭窄的区域通常位于腭后区。许多人认为这是阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）事件期间气道阻塞最可能的部位。本研究的目的是调查OSA患者与非OSA患者软腭和气道长度的差异。
在本研究中，我们分析了45例连续患者的软腭与上气道长度的比例。25例患者的呼吸暂停低通气指数每小时超过5次，被分类为OSA组（男性19例；女性6例）。将这些患者与20名正常对照者（男性12例；女性8例）进行比较。主诉打鼾的对照者进行了睡眠研究（n = 5）。其他15名对照者临床上无症状且未进行睡眠研究。进行医学计算机断层扫描以确定上气道长度和在正中矢状面图像中测量的软腭长度。
与对照组相比，OSA患者的软腭长度明显更长（p = 0.009），男性比女性更长（p = 0.002）。然而，气道长度没有差异。与对照组相比，OSA患者的软腭长度占口咽气道长度的百分比明显更大（p = < 0.0001），男性比女性更大（p = 0.02）。男性软腭长度随年龄每年显著增加0.3 mm（在调整体重指数（BMI）和OSA后）。仅在调整年龄后，OSA患者的软腭长度占气道长度的百分比更大，且在男性中随BMI显著增加。
在本研究中，与对照组相比以及男性与女性相比，OSA患者的软腭相对于其口咽气道更长。该比例可与年龄结合用于识别OSA风险患者。
