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White matter tract-specific alterations in male patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea are associated with worse cognitive function.

ABSTRACT: STUDY OBJECTIVES:Neurocognitive impairment is one of the daytime symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We proposed to use tract-specific statistical analysis (TSSA) to investigate whether there are fiber tract abnormalities in OSA, which may be undiscovered using voxel-based approaches, and whether such tract-specific disruptions in brain connectivity are associated with neuropsychological deficits in patients with untreated OSA. METHODS:We enrolled 38 patients with OSA diagnosed by overnight polysomnography, and 41 healthy sleepers. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) maps were obtained from whole-brain diffusion tensor imaging, and TSSA were used to assess regional deficits of white matter tracts. All participants underwent a battery of neuropsychological tests. To evaluate the association between FA values and clinical, polysomnographic, and neuropsychological parameters in the OSA group, permutation-based tests for correlation were performed preceding cluster-based statistics. RESULTS:Compared to healthy controls, patients with OSA showed decreased values of FA in the left and right anterior thalamic radiations, and right uncinate fasciculus (UNC) (p < 0.001, p = 0.005, and p = 0.008, respectively). A lower score of digit span backward was associated with lower FA values of right UNC in the OSA group (p = 0.023). The Rey Complex Figure Test copy score revealed a positive correlation with FA values in the right UNC (p = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS:The TSSA method indeed identified previously unrevealed tract-specific disruptions in OSA. Furthermore, reduced FA values in the frontal lobe portion of the right UNC which has been known to be involved in working memory function were significantly associated with lower cognitive performance in patients with untreated OSA.

SUBMITTER: Koo DL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7066490 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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White matter tract-specific alterations in male patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea are associated with worse cognitive function.

Koo Dae Lim DL Kim Hye Ryun HR Kim Hosung H Seong Joon-Kyung JK Joo Eun Yeon EY

Sleep 20200301 3

<h4>Study objectives</h4>Neurocognitive impairment is one of the daytime symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We proposed to use tract-specific statistical analysis (TSSA) to investigate whether there are fiber tract abnormalities in OSA, which may be undiscovered using voxel-based approaches, and whether such tract-specific disruptions in brain connectivity are associated with neuropsychological deficits in patients with untreated OSA.<h4>Methods</h4>We enrolled 38 patients with OSA diagn ...[more]

PMID: 31848608

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Project description:PurposeTo investigate white matter (WM) structural alterations using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients, with or without residual sleepiness, following adherent continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. Possible quantitative relationships were explored between the DTI metrics and two clinical assessments of somnolence.Materials and methodsTwenty-nine male patients (30-55 years old) with a confirmed diagnosis of OSA were recruited. The patients were treated with CPAP therapy only. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were performed after CPAP treatment and additionally administered at the time of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Based on the PVT results, the patients were divided into a nonsleepy group (lapses ≤5) and a sleepy group (lapses >5). DTI was performed at 3T, followed by an analysis using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to investigate the differences in fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (λ1 ), and radial diffusivity (λ23 ) between the two groups.ResultsA higher MD (P < 0.05) was observed in the sleepy group than the nonsleepy group in the whole-brain TBSS analysis in the WM. The increased MD (17.8% of the fiber tracts; P < 0.05) was caused primarily by an elevated λ23 . Axial diffusivity (λ1 ) exhibited no significant difference (P > 0.17). The alterations in FA or MD of individual fiber tracts occurred mainly in the internal/external capsule, corona radiata, corpus callosum, and sagittal stratum regions. The FA and MD values correlated with the PVT and ESS assessments from all patients (R ≥ 0.517, P < 0.05).ConclusionGlobal and regional WM alterations, as revealed by DTI, can be a possible mechanism to explain why OSA patients with high levels of CPAP use can have differing responses to treatment. Compromised myelin sheath, indicated by increased radial diffusivity, can be involved in the underlying WM changes. Evidence level: 1 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;45:1371-1378.

Project description:Systemic hypertension is prevalent among patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Short-term studies indicate that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy reduces blood pressure in patients with hypertension and OSA.To determine whether CPAP therapy is associated with a lower risk of incident hypertension.A prospective cohort study of 1889 participants without hypertension who were referred to a sleep center in Zaragoza, Spain, for nocturnal polysomnography between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 2000. Incident hypertension was documented at annual follow-up visits up to January 1, 2011. Multivariable models adjusted for confounding factors, including change in body mass index from baseline to censored time, were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) of incident hypertension in participants without OSA (controls), with untreated OSA, and in those treated with CPAP therapy according to national guidelines.Incidence of new-onset hypertension.During 21,003 person-years of follow-up (median, 12.2 years), 705 cases (37.3%) of incident hypertension were observed. The crude incidence of hypertension per 100 person-years was 2.19 (95% CI, 1.71-2.67) in controls, 3.34 (95% CI, 2.85-3.82) in patients with OSA ineligible for CPAP therapy, 5.84 (95% CI, 4.82-6.86) in patients with OSA who declined CPAP therapy, 5.12 (95% CI, 3.76-6.47) in patients with OSA nonadherent to CPAP therapy, and 3.06 (95% CI, 2.70-3.41) in patients with OSA and treated with CPAP therapy. Compared with controls, the adjusted HRs for incident hypertension were greater among patients with OSA ineligible for CPAP therapy (1.33; 95% CI, 1.01-1.75), among those who declined CPAP therapy (1.96; 95% CI, 1.44-2.66), and among those nonadherent to CPAP therapy (1.78; 95% CI, 1.23-2.58), whereas the HR was lower in patients with OSA who were treated with CPAP therapy (0.71; 95% CI, 0.53-0.94).Compared with participants without OSA, the presence of OSA was associated with increased adjusted risk of incident hypertension; however, treatment with CPAP therapy was associated with a lower risk of hypertension.

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White matter tract-specific alterations in male patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea are associated with worse cognitive function.

Publications

White matter tract-specific alterations in male patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea are associated with worse cognitive function.

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