OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and nocturnal laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), and discuss the possible mechanism.

METHODSNineteen OSAHS patients had PSG, nocturnal pH and intraesophageal pressure monitoring simultaneously. The sleep stage, body position and pressure change were recorded during every reflux event The relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and LPR was analyzed.

RESULTSAmong 19 OSAHS patients, 6 cases were found to have LPR, and 63 reflux events were recorded. There was a negative relationship between the severity of OSAHS and nocturnal mean laryngopharyngeal pH value, but relationship between OSA and reflux events is not statistically significant. The intraesophageal pressure (t = 3.211, P = 0. 007) and upper esophageal sphincter (UES) pressure (t = 2.234, P = 0.046) were statistically different between the patients with and without LPR. There was a positive relationship between the mean value of intraesophageal pressure and the whole night mean laryngopharyngeal pH value (r = 0.592, P = 0.033).

CONCLUSIONSThere was significant relationship between severity of OSAHS and nocturnal laryngopharyngeal pH value. OSAHS patients are more likely to have esophageal reflux which could increase LPR, Compared with OSAHS patients without LPR, UES pressure during the night decreased significantly in those cases with LPR, it suggested this could be another mechanism of LPR.