Research
Mixed
In patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), the uvula exhibits significantly greater skeletal muscle mass and fat content compared to normal subjects, contributing to pharyngeal narrowing.
For individuals with OSA, structural changes in the throat, specifically an enlarged and fatty uvula, contribute to airway blockage. This suggests that treatments targeting airway structure, such as surgical removal of excess tissue (UPPP), may be effective because they address these specific anatomical abnormalities.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Patients with OSA had a significantly greater percentage of muscle in the uvula (18.1 ± 1.9% versus 9.3 ± 2.1%, P = 0.02) than did normal subjects. A significant difference in fat content was also found (9.5 ± 1.4% in patients versus 4.0 ± 1.0% in normal subjects, p < 0.02).
Why this rating
Quantitative morphometric analysis with statistical controls for age and BMI, though cross-sectional and observational.
Source
Morphology of the Uvula in Obstructive Sleep Apnea
John L. Stauffer et al. · American Review of Respiratory Disease · 1989
DOI 10.1164/ajrccm/140.3.724
case_control · n=55Cited 182×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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