To investigate differences in brain gray matter concentrations or volumes in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) and healthy volunteers. Optimized voxel-based morphometry, an automated processing technique for MRI, was used to characterize structural differences in gray matter in newly diagnosed male patients. University hospital The study consisted of 36 male OSA and 31 non-apneic male healthy volunteers matched for age (mean age, 44.8 years). Using the t-test, gray matter differences were identified. The statistical significance level was set to a false discovery rate P < 0.05 with an extent threshold of k_E > 200 voxels. The mean apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of patients was 52.5/ h. On visual inspection of MRI, no structural abnormalities were observed. Compared to healthy volunteers, the gray matter concentrations of OSA patients were significantly decreased in the left gyrus rectus, bilateral superior frontal gyri, left precentral gyrus, bilateral frontomarginal gyri, bilateral anterior cingulate gyri, right insular gyrus, bilateral caudate nuclei, bilateral thalami, bilateral amygdalo-hippocampi, bilateral inferior temporal gyri, and bilateral quadrangular and biventer lobules in the cerebellum (false discovery rate P < 0.05). Gray matter volume was not different between OSA patients and healthy volunteers. The brain gray matter deficits may suggest that memory impairment, affective and cardiovascular disturbances, executive dysfunctions, and dysregulation of autonomic and respiratory control frequently found in OSA patients might be related to morphological differences in the brain gray matter areas.

Study Objective:. To investigate the structural changes in patients with chronic primary insomnia and the relationships with clinical features of insom

S and full research articles published in SLEEP, the official journal of the APSS. Sleep and sleep disorder scientific findings.

Study Objectives:. To investigate differences in cortical thickness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome and healthy controls.Design

To investigate changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). We compared the ^99mTc-ethylcysteinate dimer (ECD) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images of patients with OSAHS with those of age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. University hospital. Twenty-seven patients with severe OSAHS and 27 healthy volunteers underwent ^99mTc-ECD brain SPECT studies. For statistical parametric mapping analysis, all SPECT images were spatially normalized to the standard SPECT template and then smoothed using a 14-mm full-width at half-maximum Gaussian kernel. The Student t test was used for the statistical analysis. The mean age of patients and subjects was 44.3 years (range 31–58). All patients underwent overnight polysomnography. The mean apnea-hypopnea index of patients was 60.4 ± 17.6 per hour (range 33 –104), indicating severe OSAHS. All patients snored heavily and had daytime sleepiness (mean Epworth Sleepiness Scale score, 10.7 ± 3.7, range 6–12). Statistical parametric mapping analysis showed that rCBF in patients with OSAHS was significantly reduced in bilateral parahippocampal gyri and in the right lingual gyrus, as compared with that of healthy volunteers (P < 0.05 with false discovery rate correction). Moreover, apneahypopnea indexes of patients were negatively correlated with rCBF in the right pericentral gyrus and right cuneus at uncorrected P < 0.001. Our results show the altered rCBF pattern in bilateral parahippocampal gyri, right lingual gyrus, pericentral gyrus, and cuneus in patients with severe OSAHS. These findings may partly explain the deficit in memory, spatial learning, executive function, and attention, which are frequently found in patients with OSAHS.