Evaluation of ApneaGraph in the diagnosis of sleep-related breathing disorders

Abstract

ApneaGraph relies on measuring pressure and airflow simultaneously at different levels in the pharynx identifying the segment of airway obstruction and providing baseline respiratory parameters. This study aims to evaluate ApneaGraph and correlate results with both sleep nasendoscopy and polysomnography. This was a prospective study of 49 patients with snoring and/or obstructive sleep apnoea. Thirty of the these patients underwent a PSG and an ApneaGraph study simultaneously in the Sleep Lab. Nineteen patients attended the day surgery unit and had a sleep nasendoscopy with a 10-min ApneaGraph analysis. Polysomnography was used to validate the ApneaGraph system. There are no significant differences (independent t test, P > 0.15) between ApneaGraph compared to Polysomnography based on the apnoea-hypopnoea index, total number of apnoeic events, average oxygen saturations and maximum desaturation. This suggests that the ApneaGraph can be used to assess OSA. Statistically, there is poor correlation between the two groups (Spearman's rho 0.29). In the cases of discordance, ApneaGraph places greater emphasis on a lower pharyngeal contribution. This unique study analyses the ApneaGraph system in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea and snoring. It demonstrates the benefits of this new system and highlights certain limitations in localizing the site and level of pharyngeal obstruction in patients with sleep disorders.