Relationship between vocal cords and hypopneas?

[kteague]

This topic was birthed from discussion in another thread. Looking for people with diagnosed vocal cord problems and asking if their diagnostic sleep study showed mostly hypopneas. Not intended to be scientific, just looking for a pattern.

1. What is your diagnosis as relates to your vocal cords?
2. How many obstructive events on sleep study?
3. How many hypopneas on sleep study?

[dw]

I was recently diagnosed with OSA and was diagnosed with Vocal Cord Dysfunction about 8 years ago. My sleep/pulmo didn't mention anything about a correlation. I stopped breathing about 117 times per hour during study. I will have to look back and see about the other.

What have you heard about the vocal cords and OSA?

[Catnapper]

I noticed last spring that I was hoarse for several months. My PCP sent me to have an ultrasound of my thyroid. Found many small nodules and one large nodule that needed to have a biopsy. The endochrinologist who was doing the ultrasound to do the biopsy noticed my noisy breathing (on my back) and told me I have apnea, and to see if my PCP would send me for a sleep study. Turned out the hoarseness was due to silent GERD (I had no other symptoms of GERD), another clue that I had apnea. PCP sent me to the study, and here I am.

Silent GERD is also called Laryngopharyngeal reflux, or LPR.

Here is a quote from a study - I don't have the citation any more.
"Laryngopharyngeal reflux, or LPR, is the backflow of stomach contents up the esophagus and into the upper airway, whereas GERD includes backflow only into the esophagus. The refluxed stomach contents (refluxate) are primarily composed of acid and activated pepsin, a proteolytic enzyme needed to digest food in the stomach. The damage from this disorder can be extensive. Symptoms of laryngopharyngeal reflux include altered voice, throat clearing, vocal fatigue, and cough. .... The authors of this study have identified airway inflammation, a mucosal sensory impairment in the oropharynx (pharynx posterior to the mouth), velopharynx (soft palate), and larynx (voice box) of OSA patients, using endoscopic sensory testing. Correlations between the level of laryngeal sensory impairment and apnea severity strongly suggest that this sensory impairment plays a role in the functioning of OSA. "

Catnapper