Upper airway myopathy is not important in the pathophysiology of obstructive sleep apnea

Abstract

Clearly, UA myopathy is not a major contributing factor to OSA pathogenesis for most patients. Rather, state-dependent reductions in neural drive to UAMs would appear to be a more critical pathogenic mechanism. While there are subtle changes in UA structure and function, there is little evidence to suggest that myopathy per se is important in OSA. Furthermore, most OSA patients are indeed capable of achieving stable periods of breathing at least part of the night, an effect believed to be importantly mediated via compensation of UA dilator muscles. It is extremely difficult to conceptualize how this may occur if myopathy were fundamentally important in OSA pathogenesis. Furthermore, disease ..