| Purpose. To determine the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and transient optic nerve swelling.;Results. Eight of 15 OSA participants had significant HRT defined swelling of their optic nerve compared to two control participants who showed transient swelling of their optic nerve. Correlational analysis showed that respiratory disturbance index (RDI) as recorded on the second night polysomnography was significantly associated with measures of swelling, including HRT parameters (p=0.008, r=.410) and clinician rated scores (p=0.019, r=0.376).;Conclusion. Our findings show that OSA patients were more likely to exhibit transient, mild swelling of their optic nerves following sleep than patients from a control group. A dose dependent relationship exists between RDI and the likelihood of swelling of the optic nerve.;Methods. Fifteen participants with OSA and 15 without OSA were enrolled in the study and underwent two night polysomnography testing. Topographic images using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT), intraocular pressure and blood pressure measurements were taken the night prior to the sleep study, upon awakening, 30 minutes, one and two hours after awakening on each night. |
