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Resting cerebral blood flow alteration in severe obstructive sleep apnoea: an arterial spin labelling perfusion fMRI study

  • Neurology • Original Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Study objectives

The aim of this study is to investigate changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in awake people with untreated severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSAs) compared with good sleepers (GSs).

Design

Arterial spin labelling perfusion imaging was used to quantify cerebral perfusion based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Setting

Lying supine in a 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner in the night was done.

Participants

Included in this study were 30 subjects with OSA (males; mean age 38.4 years, range 25–55) and 30 controls (males; mean age: 38.3 years, range 26–52) matched for age and years of education.

Results

Compared with GSs, participants with severe OSA had reduced rCBF in the left cerebellum posterior lobe, left temporal lobe, right medial frontal gyrus, and bilateral parahippocampal gyrus and increased rCBF in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus. The lower mean CBF in the right parahippocampal gyrus exhibited a significant positive correlation with arousal index (r = 0.365, P = 0.047). The increased mean CBF in the left superior frontal gyrus exhibited a significant positive correlation with the longest apnoea time (r = 0.422, P = 0.020), and the increased mean CBF in the right superior frontal gyrus exhibited a significant positive correlation with the longest apnoea time (r = 0.447, P = 0.013).

Conclusions

Our results show that the altered rCBF pattern in the left cerebellum posterior lobe, left temporal lobe, left medial frontal gyrus, bilateral parahippocampal gyrus and superior frontal gyrus in patients have with severe OSA. The arterial spin labelling perfusion imaging method is a useful non-invasive imaging tool for detection of early changes in the regional cerebral blood flow in patients with OSA.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology Support Programme (grant numbers 20132BBG70061, 20121BBG70056, and 20141BBG70026), the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Science Foundation Project (grant 20132BAB205100), and the Chinese Department of National Innovation Experiment Programme for University Students (grants 201210403052 and 2012181).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No.17, Yongwai Zheng Street, Donghu District, Nanchang, 330006, Jiangxi Province, People’s Republic of China

    Si Nie, De-Chang Peng, Hong-Han Gong, Hai-Jun Li, Li-Ting Chen & Cheng-Long Ye

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  1. Si Nie
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  2. De-Chang Peng
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  3. Hong-Han Gong
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  4. Hai-Jun Li
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  5. Li-Ting Chen
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  6. Cheng-Long Ye
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to De-Chang Peng.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology Support Programme (grant numbers 20132BBG70061, 20121BBG70056, and 20141BBG70026), the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Natural Science Foundation Project (grant 20132BAB205100), and the Chinese Department of National Innovation Experiment Programme for University Students (grants 201210403052 and 2012181).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University and was therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards outlined in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. It was clear that all persons provided informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Nie, S., Peng, DC., Gong, HH. et al. Resting cerebral blood flow alteration in severe obstructive sleep apnoea: an arterial spin labelling perfusion fMRI study. Sleep Breath 21, 487–495 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1474-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1474-9

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