Uneven Effects of Sleep Apnea on Semicircular Canals and Otolithic Organs

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore how obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects the function of each vestibular organ and to identify the correlations among them. Methods: A prospective study was conducted involving 32 healthy controls and 64 patients with OSA. The objective detection methods of the utricle and saccule are vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs). A combination of the caloric test and video head impulse test (vHIT) was used to comprehensively evaluate the objective function of semicircular canals. Results: Elevated thresholds (p < 0.001), decreased waveform amplitudes (p < 0.001), prolonged first wave latencies (p < 0.001), and shortened first interpeak latencies (p < 0.001) were observed in both ocular VEMP (oVEMP) and cervical VEMP (cVEMP). A significant difference was found in the caloric test comparison (χ2 = 4.030, p = 0.045) but not in the vHIT. The intergroup comparison of normal rates among the VEMPs, caloric test, and vHIT groups showed a significant difference (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The impairment of vestibular function in patients with OSA was uneven and biased. More attention should be given to vestibular dysfunction in the diagnosis and treatment of OSA.