A pilot study to compare the cerebral hemodynamics between patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) and periodic limb movement syndrome (PLMS) during nocturnal sleep with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) and periodic limb movement in sleep syndrome (PLMS) are two common sleep disorders. Previous studies showed that OSA and PLMS share common features, such as increased cardio-vascular risk, both apnea events and limb movements occur periodically, they are usually associated with cortical arousals, and both of them can induce declines in peripheral oxygen saturation measured with pulse oximetry. However, the question whether apnea events and limb movements also show similar characteristics in cerebral hemodynamic and oxygenation has never been addressed. In this pilot study, we will first time compare the cerebral hemodynamic changes induced by apnea events and limb movements in patients with OSA (n=4) and PLMS (n=4) with NIRS. In patients with OSA, we found periodic oscillations in HbO(2), HHb, and blood volume induced by apnea/hypopnea events, HbO(2) and HHb showed reverse changing trends. By contrast, the periodic oscillations linked to limb movements were only found in HbO(2) and blood volume in patients with PLMS. These findings of different cerebral hemodynamics patterns between apnea events and limb movements may indicate different regulations of nervous system between these two sleep disorders.