Nasal CPAP May Cause Heated Humidification & Mucosal Inflammation in OSA Patients

Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) can cause undesirable nasal symptoms such as congestion to obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients, which symptoms can be attenuated by the addition of heated humidification.

However, neither the nature of nasal symptoms nor the effect of heated humidification on nasal pathophysiology and pathology are convincingly known.

 Twenty patients with OSA on nasal CPAP who exhibited symptomatic nasal obstruction were randomized to receive either 3 weeks of CPAP treatment with heated humidification or 3 weeks of CPAP treatment with sham-heated humidification, followed by 3 weeks of the opposite treatment, respectively.

Nasal symptom score, nasal resistance, nasal lavage interleukin-6, interleukin-12 and tumour necrosis factor-a, and nasal mucosa histopathology were assessed at baseline and after each treatment arm. Heated humidification in comparison with sham-heated humidification was associated with decrease in nasal symptomatology, resistance and lavage cytokines, and attenuation of inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis of the nasal mucosa.

The research concluded that nasal obstruction of OSA patients on CPAP treatment is inflammatory in origin, and the addition of heated humidification decreases nasal resistance and mucosal inflammation.

Tagged with: cell infiltration and fibrosis of the nasal mucosa • continuous positive airway pressure • CPAP • CPAP Therapy • CPAP treatment • Heated Humidification • Mucosal Inflammation • Nasal Resistance • Nasal Symptoms • Obstructive Sleep Apnea • OSA • OSA Patients • Sleep Apnea

Filed under: CPAP • CPAP Therapy • Obstructive Sleep Apnea • Sleep Apnea • Sleep Apnea Devices • Sleep Apnea News • Sleep Apnea Research

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