Dilator Muscle Activity in Health and Sleep Apnea

Upper Airway Dilator Muscle Activity in Healthy Subjects and Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea During Wakefulness and Sleep

The role of control of peri-pharyngeal muscle tone in the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is obvious: pharyngeal obstruction occurs only during sleep; and pharyngeal collapse occurs in almost all healthy subjects during anesthesia. Better understanding of these control mechanisms may help identifying the central components of the pathogenesis of OSA.

Study plan: Subjects will be studied first during wakefulness, while breathing against external resistors, to evaluate how are the peri-pharyngeal muscles recruited and activated to prevent pharyngeal collapse in the presence of negative intra-pharyngeal pressures. Thereafter, the same parameters will be evaluated during sleep, to assess muscle recruitment during intra-pharyngeal obstruction. The investigaors will record the electromyogram (EMG) of several dilator muscles, as well as the pressures above and below the area of pharyngeal collapse, and airflow.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. subjects that underwent regular sleep studies and found to have either moderate/severe OSA, or no OSA.

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Exclusion Criteria:

1. hemophilia
2. use of anti-coagulants -