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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy (DISE) with Target Controlled Infusion (TCI) and Bispectral Analysis in Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Published on: December 6, 2016
[Endothelium-dependent vasodilation in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome]
Zan-feng Wang1, Xue-wei Feng, Jian Kang
1Institute of Respiratory Diseases, First Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
Objective:
To evaluate the endothelial function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) by measuring the brachial artery diameter during reactive hyperemia.
Methods:
Thirty patients with OSAHS (8 with mild and 22 with moderate/severe OSAHS) and 10 control subjects were studied. Brachial artery diameter was measured with Doppler ultrasound under baseline conditions, during reactive hyperemia (an endothelium-dependent dilatation) and after sublingual administration of nitroglycerin (an endothelium-independent vasodilator). The dilative rate of brachial artery in different conditions was calculated to evaluate the endothelial function.
Results:
The dilative rate of brachial artery in the control group, the mild OSAHS group and the moderate/severe OSAHS group were (15.2 +/- 2.6)%, (14.3 +/- 3.2)% and (9.8 +/- 4.9)%, respectively. There was a significant decrease of endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilation in the moderate/severe OSAHS group compared to the control group and the mild OSAHS group. No significant difference in endothelium-independent vasodilator after sublingual administration of nitroglycerin was found among the three groups.
Conclusion:
Patients with moderate/severe OSAHS have impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilatation, and OSAHS itself maybe a risk factor for endothelial dysfunction.
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