Pathogenesis and Diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Review of Current Literature

Distinguishing between sleep disorders helps in understanding of symptoms, etiology, pathophysiology and allows for appropriate treatment. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a progressively prevalent disease in which the airway repeatedly collapses while sleeping, causing disrupted sleep and low oxygen levels. Snoring, observed apneas, and sleepiness during the day are among the symptoms. Diagnosis of OSA is usually delayed, and signs are often overlooked. Definitive diagnosis of OSA requires laboratory overnight polysomnography. This review provides a thorough overview of the present understanding of the factors contributing to OSA with emphasis on the diagnosis using polysomnography and different imaging techniques including lateral cephalometry and both cone-beam and multidetector computed tomography. Imaging has been fundamentally used for upper airway analysis and identifying anatomical structures predisposing to upper airway collapse. Upper airway imaging can identify factors that are strongly linked to suspected OSA and increase the probability of diagnosis. Literature searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. Most of the included papers were reviews or original articles.