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Relationship of aberrant internal carotid artery with pharyngeal wall in obstructive sleep apnea

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common clinical condition in which the upper airway partially or completely narrows or collapses during sleep. The objective of our research was to examine the relation between the abnormal internal carotid artery (ICA) and the pharyngeal wall among individuals suffering from OSA, and to compare it to a group of control subjects.

Methods

In this retrospective study, the closest distances of the ICA to the pharyngeal walls and midlines were measured on CT images and compared between groups.

Results

The closest distance of the ICA to the right pharyngeal wall was 3.8 ± 2.4 mm and the closest distance to the left pharyngeal wall was 4.1 ± 2.3 mm in patients with OSA, which was significantly less than the controls (respectively, 4.4 ± 1.6 mm and 14.4 ± 1.7 mm) (p < 0.001). The closest distances of the ICA to the right and left pharyngeal walls (p = 0.001) and to the right and left midline (p = 0.00002) were significantly lower in patients with moderate to severe OSA compared to mild patients according to apnea / hypopnea index (AHI). In the retroglossal bifurcation of the common carotid artery (CCA), the closest distances of the ICA to the right (p = 0.027) and left pharyngeal walls (p = 0.018) and to the right (p = 0.01) and left midline (p = 0.012) were significantly lower than the retroepiglottic bifurcation of the CCA.

Conclusion

We observed that the distance of the aberrant ICA to the pharyngeal wall is less in individuals with OSA than in individuals without OSA, the distance of the aberrant ICA to the pharyngeal wall decreased as the severity of AHI increased.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Associate Professor Zahide Yılmaz from the Neurology Clinic of Derince Training and Research Hospital for her contributions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Izmir Katip Celebi University Ataturk Research and Training Hospital, Izmir, 35360, Turkey

    Gokhan Duygulu

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  1. Gokhan Duygulu
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Contributions

Conceptualization: [Gokhan Duygulu]; Methodology: [Gokhan Duygulu]; Formal analysis and investigation: [Gokhan Duygulu]; Writing—original draft preparation: [Gokhan Duygulu]; Writing—review and editing: [Gokhan Duygulu]; Funding acquisition: [None]; Resources: [Gokhan Duygulu]; Supervision: [Gokhan Duygulu].

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gokhan Duygulu.

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Ethics approval

This retrospective chart review study involving human participants was in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The Human Investigation Committee (IRB) of Kocaeli University approved this study.

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The author (s) reports there are no competing interests to declare.

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Duygulu, G. Relationship of aberrant internal carotid artery with pharyngeal wall in obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep Breath 27, 2415–2422 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-023-02871-8

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