Identification of oropharyngeal and craniofacial risk factors in obstructive sleep apnea.

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Among the many sleep disorders affecting human health, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) has one of the highest prevalence rates in the general population and is a major cause of morbidity, mortality and impaired quality of life. Despite the increase in the number of diagnostic modalities, the majority of those affected remains undiagnosed and there is an increased need to understand OSAS pathogenesis in the general population.The current research points out that obstructuve sleep apnea is the result of structural and functional abnormalities that promote repetitive collapse of the upper airway during sleep, and that factors, such as obesity, oropharyngeal structures anatomy and craniofacial morphology are key determinants to the presence and severity of the disorder. In this project, we will investigate the anatomical and morphological aspects that constitute important risk factors to obstructive sleep apnea development. We will utilize magnetic resonance images, state-of-the-art methods in combination with polysomnographic findings from a large sample of subjects to provide reliable quantifications of oropharyngeal structures and anthropometric measurements of the craniofacial complex, which we will use to establish an integrated predictive model of obstructive sleep apnea severity.