If this is not your name, click here.
| | If this is not your name, click here. | | |
| | Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague | | |
| |  Study Finds Reduced Brain Gray Matter in Patients With Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnoea WESTCHESTER, Ill -- February 1, 2010 -- A study published in the February 1 issue of the journal SLEEP found gray matter concentration deficits in multiple brain areas of people with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The study suggests that the memory impairment, cardiovascular disturbances, executive dysfunctions, and dysregulation of autonomic and respiratory control frequently observed in OSA patients may be related to morphological changes in brain structure. Results indicate that in newly diagnosed men with severe OSA, gray matter concentrations were significantly decreased in multiple brain areas, including limbic structures, prefrontal cortices and the cerebellum. Optimised voxel-based morphometry, an automated processing technique for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), was used to characterise structural differences in gray matter by examining the entire brain, rather than a particular region. Principal investigator Seung Bong Hong, MD, Samsung Medical Center in Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, said the study emphasises the importance of diagnosing and effectively treating severe OSA. “Poor sleep quality and progressive brain damage induced by OSA could be responsible for poor memory, emotional problems, decreased cognitive functioning, and increased cardiovascular disturbances,” said Dr. Hong. “The use of continuous positive airway pressure therapy could stop further progression of brain damage in patients with severe OSA.” The study involved 36 male OSA patients with an average age of 44.7 years and 31 healthy, male, age-matched controls. Sleep was evaluated by overnight polysomnography. The OSA patients had a mean apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 52.5 partial and complete breathing pauses per hour of sleep. Patients with OSA also had more awakenings from sleep and a more fragmented sleep structure than controls. Surprisingly, gray matter concentration was decreased in OSA patients without significant changes in gray matter volume. According to the authors, frequent episodes of nocturnal hypoxemia and hypercarbia induce vasodilation and disturbances in the autoregulation of the brains of OSA patients. Therefore, changes in the brain volume of OSA patients may be obscured by increased cerebral blood volume or whole brain water content from OSA-induced changes in autoregulation. The authors noted that more research is needed to determine if gray matter concentration loss occurs as a consequence of sleep apnea, or if preexisting abnormalities may contribute to the development of the disorder.
SOURCE: American Academy of Sleep Medicine
|
