Module 1 - Respiratory & Cardiovascular Control During Sleep Flashcards
(181 cards)
Where is the velopharyngeal segment of the upper airway?
Behind the soft palette
Where is the oropharyngeal segment of the upper airway?
Behind the tongue
Where is the hypopharyngeal segment of the upper airway?
Above the larynx
What segments of the upper airway form a hollow muscular tube?
oropharyngeal and velopharyngeal
How does the hollow part of the upper airway stay open?
No bony or cartilaginous support on anterior wall so requires upper airway muscle activity
When and how are the upper airway muscles activated?
During inspiration, rhythmically
What is the main difference between the upper airway regions; nasal passage, larynx, nasopharynx?
The former have cartilaginous support to help tone, the nasopharynx has no bony support on anterior edge so needs muscle tone
What types of forces promote upper airway latency?
Collapsing and dilating forces
What is the collapsing force in the upper airway?
Negative airway pressure generated by the inspiratory activity of the diaphragm
What is the dilating force in the upper airway?
Upper airway dilator muscle activity
How does collapse occur in the upper airway, with reference to the collapsing and dilating forces?
When the force produced by dilating muscles is exceeded by the negative airway pressure (collapsing force), for a given cross-sectional area
Describe how airflows into airway in terms of the negative pressure gradient
- Breathe in, diaphragm contracts
- This decreases pressure in the plural space, causing a negative pressure gradient
- Air then flows from airway into lungs
What factors promote pharyngeal airway obstruction?
- Anatomical narrowing of the pharyngeal airway
- Excessive lose of pharyngeal airway muscle tone
- Defective upper airway protective reflexes
- Increased loop gain promotes unstable airway (brain ventilatory responses)
- Frequent arousals destabilise airway
What is the shape of the pharyngeal region in OSA compared to controls?
OSA is round
Control very small but lateral shape
In which regions can airway obstruction happen?
Always between choanae (back nose) and epiglottis (upper laryngeal cartilage)
Usually behind uvula and soft palate (nasopharynx) or behind the tongue (oropharynx)
Collapse at the level of epiglottis is unusual, but multi-level collapse is usual.
What 6 factors promote OSA?
- Sex (men have higher pharyngeal resistance, narrow pharynx and maybe hormonal factor or longer airway)
- Age (pharyngeal resistance increases with age due to decreasing elasticity)
- Obesity (fat deposition in pharyngeal walls, neck or abdomen and/or increased mass, decreases lunch volume so more prone to collapse)
- Genetics (polygenic, mb obesity too)
- Ethanol
- Cranio-Facial Anatomy
What does higher pharyngeal resistance mean for the airway?
Narrower pharynx
Why do males have higher OSA risk?
Higher pharyngeal resistance
Possible hormonal factor or longer airway
How is does ethanol related to OSA?
Secondary cause
Increases frequency and duration of apnoeas
Reduces upper airway muscle tone
What are 2 types of crania-facial anatomy that are related to OSA?
Retrognathia (small mandible = smaller space for muscles)
Enlarged tonsils (so big they fall back and cause obstruction)
How does a smaller airway lead to more obstruction?
- Smaller airway = increased upper airway resistance (Resistance ~ length/radius^4)
More negative pharyngeal pressure during inspiration (Bernoulli principle)
->
Increased transmural collapsing pressure
->
Pharyngeal airway occlusion during slee0
What is Poiseuille’s law?
R ~ l/r^4
Resistance is proportional to length of tube divided by radius ^4
Longer and smaller the tube, the increased resistance
Is the length or radius of the airway tube the stronger in determining resistance?
Radius