Vol.99 No.9 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 99 No. 9 September 2006
The Association between Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome
and Orthostatic Dysregulationy
Naoharu Kitajima
(Nishitokyo Central General Hospital, Tokyo Medical University)
Mamoru Suzuki
(Tokyo Medical University)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and orthostatic dysregulation (OD). Okuni et al. (1984) studied OD using a questionnaire. Using their method, we investigated changes in symptoms after using nasal CPAP in 38 patients. Nasal CPAP was effective in 61％ of cases. Abe et al. (1986) studied OD using a questionnaire and the Schellong test. Using these methods, we investigated changes in clinical symptoms and signs after using nasal CPAP in 17 patients. In addition, we examined stabilometry in these patients. In about 40％ of patients that were diagnosed as having OD, clinical symptoms and signs improved after using nasal CPAP. The above results suggest that chronic sleep disorder caused by OSAS could lead to OD. Patients with OD might accompany OSAS, and treatment of OSAS could improve OD in these cases.
Key words :obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, orthostatic dysregulation, nasal CPAP