Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-133).

L'âge, les facteurs de risque vasculaire, l'inactivité physique sont connus comme facteurs de risque des syndromes démentiels.Le sommeil joue un rôle majeur dans la physiologie cérébrale. Le syndrome d'apnée du sommeil (SAS) est une pathologie fréquente chez les sujets âgés, surtout chez ceux souffrant de pathologie démentielle. Les études chez les patients atteints d'hypertension, et/ou de fibrillation atriale montrent une prévalence 2 à 3 fois plus élevée de SAS. Le cerveau et sa vascularisation forment un ensemble avec le coeur et les poumons qui fournissent l'apport en énergie et en oxygène. Une dynamique harmonieuse entre ces trois organes est nécessaire au fonctionnement physiologique du cerveau et un dysfonctionnement de cet ensemble pourrait engendrer une altération cognitive. Ce travail a pour but d'analyser les liens entre l'altération du débit vasculaire de la macro-circulation témoin de l'activité cardiaque, la pulsatilité du liquide céphalospinal reflétant l'hydrodynamique cérébrale, les paramètres respiratoires en lien avec les apnées du sommeil, et le statut cognitif du sujet âgé. En nous basant sur les résultats des bilans clinique, biologique, neuropsychologique, de l'imagerie par résonnance magnétique (morphologie et flux), des holters tensionnel et rythmique dans une population de 95 patients âgés cognitivement altérés, nous avons analysé les relations entre les paramètres concernant le cerveau, le coeur et les poumons. Cette approche révèle une relation entre ces trois systèmes et la cognition. La découverte d'une prévalence de plus de 70% de SAS dans cette population associée à d’autres résultats inattendus devrait faire l'objet de travaux ultérieurs / Age, vascular disorders, and lack of physical activity are known risk factors for dementia syndromes. Sleep has an important role in cerebral physiology. Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is common in elderly patients, especially in those with dementia. It was reported that the prevalence of SAS is 2 to 3 times higher in patients with arterial hypertension and/or atrial fibrillation. The brain and its vascular system cannot be considered separately from the heart and the lungs, which provide energy and oxygen supply. Cognitive alterations do not reflect the function of the brain only, and balanced dynamics between all these organs is necessary to maintain neurological functions. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation was to analyze the impact of altered cerebral blood flow in macrocirculation reflecting cardiac activity, pulsatility of the cerebrospinal fluid reflecting cerebral hydrodynamics, and SAS reflecting respiratory function on the cognitive status of elderly patients. Based on a clinical examination, geriatric and neuropsychological assessment, blood tests, structural magnetic resonance imaging, phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurement, and 24-hour electrocardiogram in the population of 95 elderly patients aged 75 years and older, and suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, we analyzed the correlations between the neurological, cardiac, and respiratory parameters. This approach allowed an identification of associations between the abnormalities in these 3 systems and cognitive function. An unexpected finding, among some other abnormalities, was the prevalence of SAS exceeding 70%, which will be the subject of future research

The diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome is overnight PSG (mutli-channel system). But it¡¦s hard to be popularized for the general population (about twenty channel signals). In recent decades, several researches were devoted to a replacement system with only one channel signal (oxyhemoglobin saturation). However, it¡¦s hard to match PSG system¡¦s report without EEG wake information. Consequently, two channels (oxyhemoglobin saturation and EEG) were used of this study to enhance the AHI (estimation index for sleep apnea) prediction performance. After surveying the most recent studies, this work proposes a new basleline removal technique for oxygen saturation signal (SpO2) by using median filter. It was proved this technique improves the diagnostic accuracy for OSA. Furthermore, it is also found that by removing the wake periods, diagnostic accuracy can be improved further. By counting the number of times that the desaturation level has dropped more than 2% for at least 3 seconds, the correlation coefficient between AHI and proposed feature is 0.9218. In addition, by removing the wake period, this correlation increases to 0.9425. By using this feature to classify patients with AHI value larger than 5, the proposed approach achieves 93.78% accuracy, 95.94% sensitivity, 78.87% specificity f. Such results demonstrate the feasibility of using single SpO2 channel system for OSA diagnosis.

Solitary extramedullary plasmacytomas are uncommon neoplasms. They occur most frequently in the upper aerodigestive tract and account for 4% of the nonepithelial tumors in this site. The evolution of a plasmacytoma is unsteady and symptoms at presentation have included dystonia, dysphagia, oral pain, cough, and dyspnea on exertion. Plasmaeytoma of the upper aerodigestive tract has not been previously reported as a cause of obstructive sleep apnea.

No description available.

In recent years, sleep medicine has attracted many interests. Among many sleep disorder problems, the sleep apnea syndrome is of great importance. One of its side effects is its negative influences on cardiovascular system whose function can be monitored by ECG. The regulation of the heart rate is extremely important for human body. In general, the heart rate variability is controlled by the balance of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic systems whose functions can be influenced by sleep apnea. This work tries to establish the relation between the heart rate variability and AHI (Apnea & hypopnea index). Through the statistical methods, we analyze how the sleep apnea influences the low frequency (LF) and high frequency components of the RR intervals. With BMI, age and AHI as the independent variables, we set up the regression model to predict LF/HF Our results demonstrate that, for men, the linear relationship between the LF/HF and AHI is statistically significant when AHI is higher than 45. This results may shed some light on developing HRV based diagnosis method for sleep apnea.

The physiological signals of human are very important for the diagnosis of diseases. There are two different applications of physiological signals in this study. One is using oxyhemoglobin saturation to diagnose the obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAS); the other is to determine the association between dermatoglyphics and schizophrenia by using fingerprint asymmetry measures. The objective of the first part is to comprehensively evaluate the capablity and reliability of the previously proposed oxyhemoglobin indices derived automatically for predicting the severity of OSAS. Patients with a diagnosis of OSAS by standard polysomnography were recruited from China Medical University Hospital Sleep Center. The result revealed that when AHI cutoff value was set to 30/h, ODI achieves 87.8% sensitivity and 96.6% specificity. Another important finding is that, for both apnea and hypopnea, probability of oxyhemoglobin desaturation increases with increases of body mass index (BMI) and neck circumference (NC). Early detection and intervention strategies for schizophrenia are receiving increasingly more attention. Dermatoglyphic patterns have been hypothesized to be indirect measures for early abnormal developmental processes that can lead to later psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. However, previous results have been inconsistent in trying to establish the association between dermatoglyphics and schizophrenia. The goal of second part of this work is to try to resolve this problem by borrowing well developed techniques from the field of fingerprint matching. Fingerprint images were acquired digitally from 40 schizophrenic patients and 51 normal individuals. Based on these images, the sample means of the proposed measures consistently identified the patient group as having a higher degree of asymmetry than the control group.

Techniques ambulatoires de diagnostic et de monitoring des troubles respiratoires liés au sommeil.Le syndrome d’apnées obstructives du sommeil (SAOS) est un trouble du sommeil très fréquent, fortement lié à l’obésité, ce qui explique sa prévalence en pleine expansion. En parallèle, la demande d’examens polysomnographiques (PSG) en laboratoire du sommeil, méthode diagnostique de référence, est en croissance. Comme l’accès à cette technique est peu aisé, de nombreux appareils simplifiés d’enregistrement de sommeil ont été récemment développés, mais restent imparfaits (mauvaise évaluation du temps de sommeil, sous-estimation de la sévérité du SAOS, faux négatifs, taux d’échec élevé) et sont d’un apport limité pour le diagnostic du SAOS. La PSG au domicile (PSG-d) est une alternative bien plus informative, permettant d’éviter nombre des désavantages rencontrés par l’usage d’appareils simplifiés. Nous l’avons dès lors étudiée pour le diagnostic du SAOS, au travers d’une étude randomisée comparant la PSG-d vs la PSG hospitalière. En termes d’efficacité diagnostique, les résultats sont excellents, avec un faible taux d’échec d’examens à domicile (4.7 vs 1.5%). Les patients préfèrent être enregistrés dans leur propre environnement où la qualité de leur sommeil est d’ailleurs meilleure. Nous avons ensuite voulu faire le point sur la littérature récente au travers d’un article de revue, en analysant les études prospectives randomisées comparant la PSG-d et au labo du sommeil. Les résultats de ces études concordent pour démontrer que la PSG-d constitue une excellente alternative aux tests réalisés à l’hôpital. Outre le SAOS, l’outil permet le diagnostic d’autres troubles du sommeil, comme les mouvements périodiques des jambes durant le sommeil, les troubles du rythme circadien, Une question restée jusqu’ici sans réponse était l’influence de la localisation du branchement des PSG-d, à l’hôpital ou à domicile. Une étude prospective randomisée nous a permis d’établir que la localisation du branchement des PSG-d n’influençait pas la qualité globale de l’examen, ce qui simplifiera l’utilisation de cet outil à l’avenir. Enfin, nous avons utilisé des techniques de télé monitoring (TM) pour contrôler, en temps réel, la qualité des PSG-d. Dans une première étude pilote, la faisabilité a été confirmée, malgré quelques difficultés techniques. Nous avons voulu appliquer la technique à une population de patients souffrant d’un syndrome coronarien aigu, incapables d’être enregistrés au labo du sommeil. Nous avons étudié la qualité du screening du SAOS par PSG vs polygraphie (PG). Les résultats se sont révélés surprenants :82% de cette population présentait des troubles respiratoires liés au sommeil, principalement centraux. La PSG était nettement plus sensible que la PG, et le TM améliorait la qualité des PSG. Chez les patients traités pour SAOS, nous avons ensuite utilisé un outil de monitoring, l’actigraphie (Act), afin d’observer, dans la vie de tous les jours, les changements de schémas de sommeil et d’activité physique engendrés par la pression positive continue (PPC). Dans un premier travail, rétrospectif, nous avons observé ces paramètres chez des SAOS avant traitement, puis au travers d’une étude prospective multicentrique, nous avons suivi 150 patients avant et après PPC, et observé chez eux une augmentation de temps de sommeil, mais pas de l’activité physique. En conclusion, nous avons démontré dans cette thèse l’intérêt clinique de deux excellents outils ambulatoires, la PSG-d et l’Act, pour la prise en charge du SAOS. Les implications potentielles sont une meilleure accessibilité diagnostique pour le SAOS, une initiation thérapeutique plus précoce et un suivi plus précis des SAOS traités, dans des conditions ambulatoires, plus confortables et plus adéquates pour les patients. / Ambulatory diagnostic and monitoring techniques for sleep disordered breathingSleep disordered breathing (SDB), including obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), is directly related to obesity. Significant morbi-mortality is associated with OSAS, explaining the increasing demand for in-hospital polysomnography (PSG), the reference diagnostic method. As this technique is complex and time-consuming, many simplified portable monitoring (PM) devices for home sleep testing have been developed. However, the ability of PM devices to detect OSA remains limited: sleep time is not correctly assessed, OSA severity is underestimated, false negative results occur and the failure rate of the tests is high, up to 30%. Home-PSG (H-PSG) is an interesting alternative, avoiding many of these drawbacks. In the first part of this work, we studied the tool in an original study comparing H-PSG and in-lab PSG. Diagnostic efficacy was good and the failure rate low (4.7 vs 1.5%). Patients slept in their own environment and thus sleep quality was better. We were then interested by reviewing recent literature data regarding prospective randomised trials comparing H-PSG and in-lab PSG. We concluded that H-PSG is an excellent alternative for in-lab PSG, allowing not only OSA detection but also diagnosis of a large panel of other sleep disorders (periodic leg movements during sleep, circadian disorders,). As the best place to perform set-up for H-PSG remained unknown, we studied, in another prospective randomised study, the recording’s quality obtained in both settings. As no difference was observed, lab set up was found to be the simpler option for performing H-PSG. We then tested, in a prospective pilot study, real-time telemonitoring (TM) of H-PSG in order to enhance recording quality. Results were encouraging but we faced some technical problems. In a second study, we applied TM coupled with PSG to detect SDB in acute coronary syndrome, in patients too unstable to come in the sleep lab. We compared also PSG results to polygraphy (PG). Surprisingly, 82% of patients suffered from SDB. PSG was much more sensitive than PG to screen SDB in this population and TM improves recording quality. In the second part of this work, we have used actigraphy (Act) to assess sleep and physical activity in OSA patients in real-life conditions. Firstly, in a retrospective study, we documented these parameters before treatment. In a second multicentre study, we evaluated the changes in sleep schemes and physical activity under continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in 150 OSA patients. We observed that sleep time was increased under CPAP, but physical activity was not improved, contrarily to sleepiness and quality of life. In conclusion, we have shown through these works the clinical interest of two excellent ambulatory tools, H-PSG and Act, for OSA management. Potential clinical implications include enhanced healthcare accessibility, earlier treatment initiation and a closer follow-up of treated patients, through ambulatory tools, in a comfortable environment for the patients. / Doctorat en Sciences médicales (Médecine) / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a serious disorder that affects an estimated 24% of middle-age males, and 9% of middle-aged females. In addition, a large portion of individuals with OSAS go undiagnosed. OSAS is associated with several adverse health problems, including the metabolic syndrome. Therefore, there is a clear need to identify new methods for assessing OSAS risk. The exercise test has been used effectively as a diagnostic and prognostic tool for those at high risk for cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Research into the cardiopulmonary responses to exercise testing in young adult men with OSAS has not been examined. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to: 1) evaluate whether OSAS is characterized by exaggerated ventilatory responses to ramp exercise testing, with a secondary aim to evaluate if variations in serum leptin concentration might exert a regulatory in ventilatory responses during exercise; 2) To evaluate whether autonomic control of the cardiovascular response during exercise is distorted by OSAS in young overweight men, as manifested by a blunting of heart rate and exaggeration of blood pressure responses.; 3) To explore whether various simple clinical measures and response patterns from graded exercise testing might serve to discriminate between young men with and without OSAS. Methods: For objectives one and two, 14 obese men with OSAS [age = 22.4 ± 2.8; body mass index (BMI) = 32.0 ± 3.7; apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) = 22.7 ± 18.5], 16 obese men without OSAS (age = 21.4 ± 2.6; BMI = 31.4 ± 3.7), and 14 normal weight subjects (objective 2) (age = 21.4 ± 2.1; BMI = 22.0 ± 1.3) were recruited. For objective three, 91 men (age = 21.6 ± 2.8; AHI range = 0.6 – 60.5; BMI range = 19.0 – 43.9) were recruited. Subjects completed a ramp cycle ergometer exercise test, and a fasting blood sample was obtained to measure plasma leptin and blood lipid levels. Repeated measures ANOVA and stepwise linear regression was used to examine objectives 1 and 2. For objective 3, stepwise linear regression and receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis was utilized. Results: Ventilation (VE), the ventilatory equivalents for oxygen (VE/VO₂) and carbon dioxide (VE/VCO₂) were greater in the OSAS subjects vs. the overweight subjects without OSAS (P = 0.05, P < 0.05 and P < 0.005, respectively) at all exercise intensities. Heart rate (HR) recovery was attenuated in the overweight OSAS subjects compared to the No-OSAS and Control groups throughout 5 minutes of active recovery (P = 0.009). Oxygen uptake, HR, and blood pressure did not differ throughout exercise. Leptin was not associated with ventilatory responses at any exercise intensity. Linear regression analysis revealed hip-to-height ratio (HHR), hip circumference (HC), triglyceride levels, and recovery systolic blood pressure ratio (SBPR) at 2 and 4 minutes were independent predictors of AHI (model fit: R² = 0.68, p <0.0001). ROC analysis determined that percent body fat, HHR, and recovery HR at 2 minutes and 4 minutes were the best single predictors of OSAS risk (AUC = 0.77 for each measure, p = 0.003). Conclusions: Unique ventilatory and hemodynamic characteristics to maximal exercise testing are exhibited in young men with OSAS. These characteristics may be related to alterations in the sympathetic nervous system and chemoreceptor activation, and may be early clinical signs in the progression of OSAS. These exercise characteristics, along with anthropometric and body composition measures may provide useful information in identifying young men at risk for OSAS. / Ph. D.

Background and Purpose: Little is known about influences of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) on dietary intake and body composition. The purpose of this study was to evaluate dietary status, body fat distribution and leptin in overweight young men with and without OSAS in comparison to published values for normal weight counterparts. Methods: Groups were comprised of 24 sedentary overweight young men with and without OSAS, who had a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 kg/m². Serum leptin concentration was measured in the 24 subjects using radioimmunoassay, while OSAS assessment was done using nighttime home somnography. Analysis of 4-day diet recalls was performed using Nutritionist Pro (First DataBank, Inc., San Bruno, CA). A Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score was calculated for the 24 overweight subjects. Results: There were no differences between the two overweight groups for total fat mass, central abdominal fat, BMI, waist circumference, leptin, or the HEI. The HEI was not predictive of overall OSAS severity; however, BMI was moderately related to OSAS severity (r = 0.39; p=0.05). The normal weight group did have a 50% higher report of carbohydrate intake, and consumed on average, 500 more kilocalories per day. The normal weight group consumed 50% less sodium, and 50% more Vitamin's C and E including a 13% increase in the HEI. Conclusions: Regulation of eating behavior and related influences on diet composition may be affected by a number of neurohormonal disturbances associated with OSAS and/or obesity, itself. Further research is needed to quantify these possible differences on dietary status and the underlying mechanism involved. / Master of Science