Orofacial myofunctional profile of patients with sleep disorders: relationship with result of polysomnography

Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

Orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) is an alternative form of treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), that incorporates various exercises to optimize tongue placement and increase oropharyngeal tone. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to determine the efficacy of OMT in OSA patients.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, Web of Science.

REVIEW METHODS

Using PRISMA guidelines, a directed search strategy was performed for randomized control trials (RCTs) published prior to March 24, 2023, featuring 10+ patients with OSA undergoing mono-therapeutic OMT. The primary outcome of interest was apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Secondary outcomes included subjective sleepiness, sleep-related quality-of-life, and snoring frequency.

RESULTS

Of the 1244 abstracts that were identified, 7 RCTs involving 310 patients met inclusion criteria. Adult OMT patients had a statistically significant improvement in AHI (MD -10.2; 95% CI, -15.6, -4.8, p < 0.05), subjective sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale; MD -5.66; 95% CI, -6.82, -4.5, p < 0.05), sleep-related quality-of-life (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; MD -3.00; 95% CI, -4.52, -1.49, p < 0.05), and minimum oxygen saturation (MD 2.71; 95% CI, 0.23, 5.18, p < 0.05) when compared with sham OMT or no therapy. Within the single RCT featuring pediatric OMT patients, patients had poor compliance (<50%) and did not show any improvements in AHI, minimum oxygen saturation, or snoring frequency.

CONCLUSION

OMT may provide a reasonable alternative for OSA patients who cannot tolerate CPAP or other more established treatment options. OMT benefits appear limited in children due to poor compliance. More studies are required to evaluate compliance and the long-term effects of OMT on OSA outcomes.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

1 Laryngoscope, 134:480-495, 2024.

Dynamic assessment of oropharynx with ultrasonography as a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea

Ultrasonography is an easily available and portable tool to assess the dynamic changes in the upper airway and surrounding soft tissue. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of oropharynx ultrasonography as a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The study sequentially enrolled overweight individuals (body mass index >25 kg/m² ) and subjected them to OSA screening tools (Berlin questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale and STOP-Bang scores), ultrasonography of the oropharynx followed by overnight polysomnography. A total of 30 healthy individuals were also recruited as controls. Detailed dynamic and static ultrasonography measurements of the oropharynx and surrounding tissue were done. The diagnostic ability of various ultrasonography parameters to detect OSA was determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. A total of 63 subjects were enrolled, with 33 in the OSA group and 30 in non-OSA overweight group. All baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups. Except for the dynamic measurements of oropharynx (Retropalatal% change-inspiration, retropalatal% change-Muller manoeuvre, retroglossal% change-inspiration, and retroglossal% change-Muller manoeuvre) all other parameters were similar in the OSA and non-OSA overweight subjects. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was highest for retropalatal% change-inspiration: 0.989, followed by retropalatal% change-Muller manoeuvre: 0.988. Both were also significant predictors of OSA with odds ratios of 0.338 (p = 0.003; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.164-0.696) and 0.346 (p = 0.018; 95% CI 0.143-0.837), respectively. Ultrasonography provides a near complete picture of the dynamic changes and collapsibility of the oropharynx and can be an effective tool in screening for OSA.

Moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is associated with altered tongue motion during wakefulness

PURPOSE

Impairment of genioglossus control is a frequent "non-anatomical" cause of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in non- or mildly obese patients. Although wake-related compensatory mechanisms prevent the occurrence of obstructive events, the genioglossus control is often impaired during wakefulness. We hypothesized that the lingual motion would be altered during wakefulness in this population in patients with moderate-to-severe OSAS.

METHODS

We included non- or mildly obese participants with suspected OSAS. They underwent a Bucco-Linguo-Facial Motor Skills assessment using the MBLF ("Motricité Bucco-Linguo-Faciale"), which includes an evaluation of 13 movements of the tongue. This was followed by a night-attended polysomnography. We compared patients with moderate-to-severe OSAS (apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 15/h; n = 15) to patients without or with mild OSAS (AHI < 15/h; n = 24).

RESULTS

MBLF total and "tongue" sub-scores were lower in patients with moderate-to-severe OSAS: total z-score - 0.78 [- 1.31; 0.103] versus 0.20 [- 0.26; 0.31], p = 0.0011; "tongue" z-sub-score (- 0.63 [- 1.83; 0.41] versus 0.35 [0.26; 0.48], p = 0.014). There was a significant age-adjusted correlation between the "tongue" sub-score and AHI. The logistic regression model for the prediction of moderate-to-severe OSAS gave area under the curve ratio of 88.2% for MBLF score plus age.

CONCLUSIONS

Myofunctional activity of the tongue is impaired during wakefulness in non- or mildly obese patients with moderate-to-severe OSAS. This study supports the lingual myofunctional assessment using the MBLF in screening of moderate-to-severe OSAS. This simple tool could help clinicians to select patients with suspected moderate-to-severe OSAS for polysomnography.

Swallowing outcome to speech therapy intervention in resistant hypertensive patients with obstructive sleep apnea

PURPOSE

To evaluate (i) the outcome of swallowing therapy program on the rehabilitation of oropharyngeal dysphagia in resistant hypertensive patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and (ii) the association between the clinical and anthropometric characteristics of these individuals and this outcome.

METHODS

This was a prospective interventional study in which resistant hypertensives diagnosed with OSA by polysomnography and dysphagia by fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FESS) participated. All participants underwent a FEES and assessment of the risk of dysphagia (Eating Assessment Tool, EAT-10) and swallowing-related quality of life (Swal-QoL) before and after the intervention. The therapeutic program was performed daily by the participants, with weekly speech-therapist supervision for eight weeks, including the following strategies: Masako, chin tuck against resistance, and expiratory muscle training.

RESULTS

A total of 26 (78.8%) of the participants exhibited improvement in the degree of dysphagia in the intervention outcome. After the intervention, there was a statistically significant improvement in the level of penetration-aspiration (p = 0.007), the degree of pharyngeal residue (p = 0.001), the site of onset of the pharyngeal phase (p = 0.001), and the severity of dysphagia (p = 0.001) compared to before intervention. The EAT-10 score was 2 (0-6) before and 0 (0-3) after intervention (p = 0.023). Swal-QoL had a score on the symptom frequency domain of 92.8 (75-100) before and 98.2 (87.5-100) after intervention (p = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

Resistant hypertensive patients with OSA showed improved swallowing performance after swallowing therapy program.