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Severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with cochlear function impairment

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with middle ear acoustic transference and cochlear function.

Methods

Male individuals with and without mild, moderate, and severe OSA according to standard criteria of full polysomnography and no co-morbidities were studied. Subjects with BMI ≥40 kg/m2, present or past treatment for OSA, with heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, stroke, use of chronic medications, and previous history of risk for hearing loss were excluded. All subjects were submitted to full polysomnography, evaluation of wideband acoustic immittance by energy of absorbance (EA), and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE).

Results

We studied 38 subjects (age 35.8 ± 7.2 years, BMI 28.8 ± 3.8 kg/m2) divided into no OSA (n = 10, age 33.6 ± 6.4 years, BMI 26.9 ± 4.1 kg/m2), mild (n = 11, age 32.8 ± 2.9 years, BMI 28.5 ± 3.5 kg/m2), moderate (n = 8, age 34.1 ± 6.8 years, BMI 29.6 ± 3.3 kg/m2), and severe OSA (n = 9, age 41.2 ± 9.2 years, BMI 30.5 ± 3.8 kg/m2). EA was similar between groups. In contrast, patients with severe OSA presented significantly lower DPOAE amplitudes when compared to the control, mild, and moderate OSA groups (p ≤ 0.03, for all comparisons).

Conclusions

Acoustic transference function of middle ear is similar in adults with and without OSA. Severe OSA is independently associated with cochlear function impairment in patients with no significant co-morbidities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Speech and Hearing Sciences Investigation on Human Hearing Laboratory, Physical Therapy, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences and Occupational Therapy Department, Faculdade de Medicina - FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Erika Matsumura, Seisse G. G. Sanches & Renata M. M. Carvallo

  2. Speech and Hearing Sciences Investigation on Hearing Electrophysiology Laboratory, Physical Therapy, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences and Occupational Therapy Department, Faculdade de Medicina - FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Carla G. Matas, Fernanda C. L. Magliaro & Raquel M. Pedreño

  3. Sleep Laboratory, Pulmonary Division, Heart Institute (InCor), Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Pedro R. Genta & Geraldo Lorenzi-Filho

Authors
  1. Erika Matsumura
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  2. Carla G. Matas
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  3. Seisse G. G. Sanches
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  4. Fernanda C. L. Magliaro
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  5. Raquel M. Pedreño
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  6. Pedro R. Genta
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  7. Geraldo Lorenzi-Filho
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  8. Renata M. M. Carvallo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erika Matsumura.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding information

This study was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP process number 2013/10281-7).

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

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

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Matsumura, E., Matas, C.G., Sanches, S.G.G. et al. Severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with cochlear function impairment. Sleep Breath 22, 71–77 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1530-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1530-5

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