The upper airway was evaluated in eight patients with obstructive sleep apnea by using a rapid sequential CT scanner (Imatron 0.100). Four patients also had simuftaneous polysomnograms to determine the onset of sleep and apnea. The upper airway was scanned while the patient was awake (eight patients), asleep (four patients), and asleep and apneic (eight patients). . Also, CT cannot dynamically assess rapid changes in airway caliber. Cine CT (lmatron C-i 00, San Francisco, CA) has a short scan time and can be rapidly repeated, and multiple levels can be scanned almost simultaneously without moving the patient. Cine CT has previously been used to show narrowed upper airways in awake patients with OSA [8]. In the same study normal awake subjects showed no significant change in airway surface area during respiration. Upper airway closure in OSA has been shown to occur only while the patient is asleep. We therefore scanned eight patients when they were awake, when they were asleep and breathing, and during episodes of sleep apnea to determine the level, extent, and dynamics of upper airway obstruction dunng OSA.

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