Lun Haimei, Wei Lisi, Ye Linsong, Wei Liu, Li Xiaoxi, Zhong Weixian, Zheng Hongyu, Hu Qiao
Department of Ultrasound, People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region & Guangxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck, People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region & Guangxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Aug 19;12:1616387. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1616387. eCollection 2025.
Cervical tracheal characteristics in OSAHS patients remain unclear.
This study aimed to analysis the cervical tracheal characteristics of obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) patients using ultrasound.
One hundred and thirteen patients with OSAHS and 113 age-, sex-, height-, weight-, and BMI-matched healthy controls underwent cervical tracheal sonographic examination. Tracheal wall motion was monitored and sonographic measurements of the airway lumen were obtained during quiet respiration, deep respiration, and the Müller maneuver. Tracheal displacement during the Müller maneuver was monitored and quantified. Measurements were compared between groups.
Adequate visualization of cervical tracheal dimensional changes during the Müller maneuver was obtained in 91.15% of patients with OSAHS and 99.12% of healthy subjects. The cervical trachea had the smallest lateral diameter during the Müller maneuver ( < 0.001) in patients with OSAHS and healthy controls. The cervical trachea moved caudally during the Müller maneuver, and its peak tracheal displacement was greater in patients with OSAHS than that in the healthy controls ( < 0.001). There was a positive relationship between peak tracheal displacement during the Müller maneuver and apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI; < 0.001).
OSAHS patients have greater caudal tracheal displacement and greater tracheal size than healthy controls. Ultrasonography may be especially suited for precisely evaluating the trachea and can provide a reference for the airway assessment and management of OSAHS.
阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征（OSAHS）患者的颈段气管特征仍不清楚。
本研究旨在使用超声分析阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征（OSAHS）患者的颈段气管特征。
113例OSAHS患者和113例年龄、性别、身高、体重和BMI匹配的健康对照者接受颈段气管超声检查。在静息呼吸、深呼吸和Müller动作期间监测气管壁运动，并获取气道腔的超声测量值。监测并量化Müller动作期间的气管移位。比较两组间的测量值。
91.15%的OSAHS患者和99.12%的健康受试者在Müller动作期间可充分观察到颈段气管尺寸变化。在Müller动作期间，OSAHS患者和健康对照者的颈段气管横径最小（<0.001）。在Müller动作期间，颈段气管向尾侧移动，OSAHS患者的气管最大移位幅度大于健康对照者（<0.001）。Müller动作期间的气管最大移位幅度与呼吸暂停低通气指数（AHI；<0.001）呈正相关。
OSAHS患者的气管向尾侧移位幅度更大，气管尺寸也大于健康对照者。超声检查可能特别适合精确评估气管，并可为OSAHS的气道评估和管理提供参考。
