Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Chronic Rhinosinusitis: Understanding the Impact of OSA on CRS Disease Burden?

Introduction: Both obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) significantly impact patients’ quality of life, with known functional and emotional sequelae. Up to 20% of patients with CRS have comorbid OSA, and conversely, patients with OSA are at increased risk of developing CRS. While the exact relationship between these conditions is not yet fully established, current literature hypothesizes that chronic, intermittent hypoxia from OSA creates a local, endonasal, and systemic inflammatory cascade which induces endothelial dysfunction seen in CRS. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of co-morbid OSA disease and treatment on CRS severity and outcomes.