Cephalometric Evaluation in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea undergoing Lateral Pharyngoplasty.

Introduction Lateral pharyngoplasty (LP) has shown promising results. Craniofacial deformity reduces the pharyngeal space, contributing to the etiopathogenesis. The analysis of craniofacial features can be performed using cephalometry. Objective To verify if craniofacial deformity is associated with worse polysomnographic data in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and to verify if the preoperative cephalometric parameters can interfere with the surgical success of the LP. Methods The study included 21 patients with OSA aged between 18 and 65 years who underwent LP in a university hospital from 2015 to 2019. Polysomnography was performed postoperatively, after a minimum period of 6 months from the surgical procedure. In addition, a cephalometric evaluation was performed to assess craniofacial deformity, and to correlate it with the polysomnographic results. Results The mean and median of all polysomnographic respiratory parameters improved postoperatively, especially the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), which went from 40.15 to 16.60 events per hour ( p = 0.001). Of the 21 patients, 15 showed improvements in the AHI postoperatively. As for the cephalometric evaluations, we found that the longer the distance between the hyoid bone and the mandibular plane, the greater the patient's preoperative AHI ( p = 0.011). When assessing whether cephalometric changes related to craniofacial deformities influence the surgical outcome of LP, no correlation was found for any cephalometric measurement. Conclusion The longer the distance between the hyoid bone and the mandibular plane, the greater the preoperative AHI, and LP was an effective OSA treatment. Cephalometric variables are not able to modify or determine the success of LP in apneic patients in the population assessed.

Cephalometric Evaluation in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea undergoing Lateral Pharyngoplasty

Abstract Introduction Lateral pharyngoplasty (LP) has shown promising results. Craniofacial deformity reduces the pharyngeal space, contributing to the etiopathogenesis. The analysis of craniofacial features can be performed using cephalometry. Objective To verify if craniofacial deformity is associated with worse polysomnographic data in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and to verify if the preoperative cephalometric parameters can interfere with the surgical success of the LP. Methods The study included 21 patients with OSA aged between 18 and 65 years who underwent LP in a university hospital from 2015 to 2019. Polysomnography was performed postoperatively, after a minimum period of 6 months from the surgical procedure. In addition, a cephalometric evaluation was performed to assess craniofacial deformity, and to correlate it with the polysomnographic results. Results The mean and median of all polysomnographic respiratory parameters improved postoperatively, especially the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), which went from 40.15 to 16.60 events per hour (p = 0.001). Of the 21 patients, 15 showed improvements in the AHI postoperatively. As for the cephalometric evaluations, we found that the longer the distance between the hyoid bone and the mandibular plane, the greater the patient's preoperative AHI (p = 0.011). When assessing whether cephalometric changes related to craniofacial deformities influence the surgical outcome of LP, no correlation was found for any cephalometric measurement. Conclusion The longer the distance between the hyoid bone and the mandibular plane, the greater the preoperative AHI, and LP was an effective OSA treatment. Cephalometric variables are not able to modify or determine the success of LP in apneic patients in the population assessed.

Lateral pharyngoplasty: polysomnographic results and phenotype-based analysis of OSA.

PURPOSE: There are several surgical treatments for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) including lateral pharyngoplasty (LP) have yielded promising results, clearly improving symptoms of the disease. However, there are few publications in relation to polysomnographic (PSG) results, and patient selection remains a challenge. There are currently four pathophysiological phenotypes for OSA: anatomical, low arousal threshold, ventilatory instability, and poor muscle response. This study sought to evaluate the PSG results of LP and to verify whether the phenotypic profile is predictive of surgical success. METHODS: This was an observational, retrospective, cross-sectional study that analyzed the PSG results (pre-surgical and at least 6 months after surgery) of patients treated with Cahali's LP. To assess phenotypes, the following variables of interest (obtained from the pre-operative PSG) were used: apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) during REM sleep (AHIrem), percentage of hypopneas in the AHI, number of central or mixed apneas, and AHIrem and non-REM AHI ratio. RESULTS: Of 46 patients, it was possible to evaluate the phenotype in 28 patients. There were significant differences in the AHI values, ranging from 37.5 (20.8-49.7) to 10.3 (2.3-33.0) (p < 0.001). The minimum oxyhemoglobin saturation ranged from 78 ± 11 to 83 ± 8 p = 0.008. The time with oxyhemoglobin saturation < 90% ranged from 3.6 min (0.5-9.1) to 0.0 (0.0-1.5) p = 0.031. An AHIrem of < 20 events/h showed a positive correlation with surgical success. CONCLUSION: LP is efficient for the treatment of OSA, yielding significant improvement in all respiratory parameters evaluated by PSG. A pre-operative AHIrem of < 20 events/h was associated with surgical success. Other variables of interest for determining the phenotypes were not predictors of surgical success.

The Impact of Clinical and Craniofacial Changes on the Surgical Outcomes of Lateral Pharyngoplasty in the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Objective To verify if maxillomandibular retrusion, obesity, and increased neck circumference are factors of worse surgical prognosis for lateral pharyngoplasty in apneic patients. Materials and Methods We evaluated 53 patients with obstructive sleep apnea who underwent lateral pharyngoplasty. Clinical evaluation was performed before the surgical procedure and included the measurement of body mass index (BMI) in kg/m 2 , neck circumference in centimeters, and a clinical evaluation of the facial profile obtained through the natural position of the oriented head. The polysomnographic evaluation was performed with at a minimum of 6 months after surgery, and polysomnographic results were correlated with the preoperative clinical data. Results The mean age of the patients was 38.8 years; the mean BMI was of 29.28kg/m 2 , and 84.9% of the sample was composed of men and 15.1% of women. There was a significant reduction in the mean value of the main respiratory parameters verified by polysomnography, such as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) from 31.60 events per hour to 8.15 ( p < 0.001); NadirO 2 went from 81% to 85% ( p = 0.002) and mean oxyhemoglobin saturation from 94% to 95% ( p = 0.024). It was also observed that the greater the maxillomandibular retrusion, the lower the mean reduction of the AHI after surgery. The increase in neck circumference proved to be a factor associated with the surgical outcome, and for each 1-cm decrease in the neck circumference, the chance of surgical success increased 1.2-fold. Conclusion Lateral pharyngoplasty is an efficient surgical obstructive sleep apnea treatment. The lower the neck circumference measurement, the greater the chances of surgical success, and clinically evaluated maxillomandibular retrusion can reduce the magnitude of improvement in respiratory parameters after lateral pharyngoplasty in apneic patients.

Cultural adaptation and evaluation of the measurement properties of the Berlin Questionnaire for Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: to produce the Brazilian version of the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) with evidence of reliability and validity. METHOD: The cultural adaptation was carried out in the following stages: translation, synthesis of translations, back-translation, evaluation by an expert committee and pre-test with 30 participants. Next, the psychometric properties were evaluated with 104 participants who answered the Brazilian version of the BQ and underwent polysomnography (PSG). They also completed a sociodemographic and clinical characterization instrument and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Reliability was assessed concerning homogeneity of the items (internal consistency), and criterion validity was tested by comparing the Brazilian version of the BQ with the apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) obtained through PSG. RESULTS: The Brazilian version of the BQ presented evidence of semantic-idiomatic, conceptual and cultural equivalence, with good acceptability and feasibility. The findings demonstrated the reliability of the measure (Cronbach's alpha 0.74). The instrument presented a sensitivity of 81.3%, 86.2%, and 93.8%, and specificity of 82.5%, 54.7% and 50.0% for the risk stratification of obstructive sleep apnea according to the AHI ≥5, ≥15 and ≥ 30 events per hour, respectively. It should be emphasized that the BQ is a screening instrument for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and should be combined with a clinical evaluation and later confirmed with PSG. CONCLUSION: The Brazilian version of the Berlin Questionnaire was reliable and valid in the study population.