Summary: We have previously described impairments of cognitive executive functions in 17 patients with OSAS in comparison with 17 normal controls, as assessed by various frontal-lobe-related tests. In the present study, 10 of these OSAS patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) were reevaluated after 4-6 months of treatment. Neuropsychological tasks explored attention, short-term memory span, learning abilities, planning capacities, categorizing activities, and verbal fluency. Patients were found to have normalized most of their cognitive executive and learning disabilities, but all the short-term memory tests remained unchanged. These findings are discussed in light of the contribution of the frontal-lobe-related systems to short-term memory functions, and the eventual pathogenic role played by sleep fragmentation and nocturnal hypoxemia, which are related to the occurrence of apneic and hypopneic events. In conclusion, short-term memory impairment was persistent in OSAS patients despite CPAP treatment for 4-6 months.
CITATION STYLE
Naegele, B., Pepin, J. L., Levy, P., Bonnet, C., Pellat, J., & Feuerstein, C. (1998). Cognitive Executive Dysfunction in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) after CPAP Treatment. Sleep, 21(4), 392–397. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/21.4.392
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