caa a22 4500 475848853 CHVBK 20180406123922.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170329e20000401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s004050050229 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s004050050229 Morphometric analysis of the uvula in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders [Elektronische Daten] [E. P. P. M. Hamans, Eric A. Van Marck, Wilfried A. De Backer, Wouter Creten, Paul H. Van de Heyning] The upper-airway mucosa in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients and snorers is often described as edematous and hyperplastic. The morphologic aspects of the pharyngeal mucosa, and in particular the mucosa of the uvula and soft palate, in OSA patients are, however, not well described. The aim of the present retrospective study therefore was to perform histologic examination of the pharyngeal mucosa obtained from patients with various forms of sleep-related breathing disorders, including primary snoring. A midsagittal section of uvulas obtained by uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) was investigated in 34 OSA patients and 9 non-apneic snorers. Control tissues were taken by autopsy in 19 patients not known to have OSA or snoring. A morphometric point counting technique was used to determine the tissue composition. The data showed that OSA patients and non-apneic snorers had a significantly greater percentage of intercellular space than controls (65.7% vs 54.0%; P = 0.006). Control uvulas contained more muscle than OSA and snorers (14.0% vs 7.8%; P = 0.006). Moreover, the covering epithelium was significantly thicker in OSA and snorers than in controls (variance ratio = 7.64; P = 0.008). When taking body mass index (BMI) into account, no correlation was found between fat deposition and BMI. Findings showed that an increased clinical severity of OSA did not affect the tissue composition. Indeed, uvula morphology was similar in OSA patients with respect to non-apneic snorers. Since the increased amount of intercellular space is the expression of edema, we hypothesize that these mucosal changes together with hyperplasia of the covering epithelium are secondary effects to snoring. They presumably play a minor role in the etiopathogenesis of OSA, but may increase the severity of OSA by further narrowing the pharyngeal lumen. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2000 Key words Morphology nationallicence Uvula nationallicence Obstructive sleep nationallicence apnea nationallicence Snoring nationallicence Hamans E. P. P. M. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650 Edegem, Belgium Fax: +32 3 8214451, BE aut Van Marck Eric A. Department of Pathology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, BE aut De Backer Wilfried A. Department of Chest Medicine, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, BE aut Creten Wouter Department of Biostatistics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, BE aut Van de Heyning Paul H. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, BE aut https://doi.org/10.1007/s004050050229 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s004050050229 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hamans E. P. P. M. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650 Edegem, Belgium Fax: +32 3 8214451, BE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Van Marck Eric A. Department of Pathology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, BE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- De Backer Wilfried A. Department of Chest Medicine, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, BE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Creten Wouter Department of Biostatistics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, BE aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Van de Heyning Paul H. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, BE aut Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer