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Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is increasing in prevalence due to rising obesity. Public awareness is also growing. Although OSA is a disorder primarily of the upper airway during sleep, its physiological impact on other parts of the body is now well recognized. There is increasing interest in the association of OSA with various eye disorders. Work in this field has been directed predominantly to OSA prevalence and association studies, but some authors have tried to elucidate the effect of OSA therapies on eye diseases, including continuous positive airway pressure, upper airway surgery or bariatric surgery. This review discusses the publications in this area from the past year.The key ocular disorders featured in the studies and meta-analayses include glaucoma, floppy eyelid syndrome, nonarteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy, keratoconus, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Associations with OSA were found with all these conditions, but aspects of the studies still leave gaps in our knowledge.This review highlights the need for ophthalmologists to consider OSA in their patients and also makes recommendations for future research studies, especially whether therapies for OSA can be effective for ocular disorders also.

Original publication

DOI

10.1097/mcp.0000000000000322

Type

Journal article

Journal

Current opinion in pulmonary medicine

Publication Date

11/2016

Volume

22

Pages

595 - 601

Addresses

aNewcastle Regional Sleep Service, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, Newcastle bOxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine, Oxford University Hospitals cNIHR Biomedical Research Centre Oxford, University of Oxford, Churchill Campus, Oxford, United Kingdom.