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Pharyngeal narrowing in end-stage renal disease: implications for obstructive sleep apnoea

¹ Dept of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, ² Dept of Medicine, University of Toronto, and ³ Dept of Medicine, Humber River Regional Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.

CORRESPONDENCE: P. J. Hanly, 1421 Health Sciences Centre, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1. Fax: 1 4032836151. E-mail: phanly{at}ucalgary.ca

Keywords: Dialysis, kidney failure, pharyngometry, sleep apnoea, upper airway

Received: December 11, 2006
Accepted June 27, 2007

Sleep apnoea is common in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). It was hypothesised that this is related to a narrower upper airway. Upper airway dimensions in patients with and without ESRD and sleep apnoea were compared, in order to determine whether upper airway changes associated with ESRD could contribute to the development of sleep apnoea.

An acoustic reflection technique was used to estimate pharyngeal cross-sectional area. Sleep apnoea was assessed by overnight polysomnography. A total of 44 patients with ESRD receiving conventional haemodialysis and 41 subjects with normal renal function were studied. ESRD and control groups were further categorised by the presence or absence of sleep apnoea (apnoea/hypopnoea index 10 events·h^–1).

The pharyngeal area was smaller in patients with ESRD compared with subjects with normal renal function: 3.04±0.84 versus 3.46±0.80 cm² for the functional residual capacity and 1.99±0.51 versus 2.14±0.58 cm² for the residual volume. The pharynx is narrower in patients with ESRD than in subjects with normal renal function.

In conclusion, since a narrower upper airway predisposes to upper airway occlusion during sleep, it is suggested that this factor contributes to the pathogenesis of sleep apnoea in dialysis-dependent patients.