BACKGROUND:

Sleep apnea is a disease which in its severe forms can become debilitating and is more frequent in elder men. In North America the estimated prevalence is 15-30% in men and 10-15% in women.

OBJECTIVE:

Corelation between sleep apnea and the size of different structures of the neck.

METHODS:

The study started in January 2022 and was conducted over a period of 6 months on a lot of 10 patients with sleep apnea, which after the diagnose were treated with aCPAP at home. For each patient a chart was created which contained: sex, age, hight, weight, BMI, spirometry, comorbidities, specific measurements of neck, abdomen and hip, simptoms related to sleep apnea. The Philips Clearvue 550 ultrasound was used to do the measurements of the distance between lingual artery, tongue width and height and trachea. Patients were reassessed after 3 months of aCPAP treatment, comparing with measurements from the first presentation.

RESULTS:

Following aCPAP treatment, an improvement in AHI was achieved with an average of 2.3 (0.6%). Improvements were also observed in mean FEV1 76.9 (16.5%)- 83.8 (16.9%), neck circumference 47.6 (7.2%) - 43.9 (6.9%), abdomen 131.6 (22. 5%) - 126.1 (22.9%), hip 128.3 (13.1%) - 123.4 (13.3%), tongue width 4.3 (0.6%) - 4.2 (3.2%), tongue height 3.5 (0.68%) ? 3.44 (0.69%), tongue artery distance 3.0 (0.9%) - 2.8 (1.7%). Trachea measurements remained unchanged 2.2 (0.6%).

CONCLUSION:

The size of different structures in the neck area are important risk factors for sleep disorders and appear to be amenable to treatment.