The purpose of this study is to investigate characteristic alterations of functional connectivity (FC) patterns in the primary visual area (V1) in patients with intermittent exotropia (IXT) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and how they relate to clinical features. Twenty-six IXT patients and 21 age-, sex-, handedness-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent rs-fMRI. We performed FC analyses between bilateral V1 and other brain areas and compared FC strength between two groups. A Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between the FC differences and clinical features. Compared with HCs, patients with IXT showed significantly lower FC of the right V1 with the right calcarine sulcus and right superior occipital gyrus, and the left V1 with right cuneus and right postcentral gyrus. The Newcastle Control Test score was positively correlated with mean FC values between the left inferior parietal lobule and bilateral V1, and between the left supramarginal gyrus and left V1. The duration of IXT was positively correlated with mean FC values between the right inferior occipital gyrus and right V1. Reduced FC between the V1 and various brain regions involved in vision and eye movement processes may be associated with the underlying neural mechanisms of impaired visual function in patients with IXT.

Objective: To determine facial contour features, measured on computed tomography (CT), related to upper airway morphology in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); certain phenotype of facial abnormalities implying restriction of craniofacial skeleton and adipose tissue nimiety has predicted the value of the severity of OSA. Materials and Method: Sixty-four male patients with OSA [apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥10/h] who had upper airway CT were randomly selected to quantitatively measure indicators of facial contour and upper airway structures. Pearson correlation analyses were performed. Partial correlation procedure was used to examine correlations while controlling body mass index (BMI). Results: Upper airway anatomy can nearly all be reflected in the face, except retroglossal airway. Upper face width can be measured to assess the overall skeletal structures of the airway. Lower face width can be used to represent how much adipose tissue deposited. Hard palate, retropalatal, and hypopharyngeal airways have corresponding face indicators respectively. Midface width is a better predictor of AHI severity and minimum blood oxygen even than neck circumference because it contains the most anatomical information about the airway, including RP airway condition, soft palate length, tongue volume, etc. These correlations persisted even after correction for BMI. Conclusions: All anatomical features of the upper airway except retroglossal airway can be reflected in the face, and midface width is the best predictor of AHI severity and minimum blood oxygen, even better than neck circumference and BMI.

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