American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) Practice Exam

Polysomnography (PSG) is recognized as the gold standard diagnostic tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) due to its comprehensive and detailed nature. PSG is an overnight sleep study that records various physiological parameters such as brain wave activity, oxygen levels, heart rate, breathing patterns, and eye movements while the patient sleeps. This multi-faceted approach allows for the accurate assessment of sleep stages and identification of any abnormalities that might indicate OSA, including apneas, hypopneas, and oxygen desaturation events.

The significance of PSG lies in its ability to provide a complete picture of a patient's sleep architecture and respiratory function during sleep. This is crucial for diagnosing OSA because the disorder is characterized by repetitive episodes of upper airway obstruction during sleep, which affect breathing and oxygenation.

Other diagnostic tools, such as CT scans and MRIs, primarily serve to visualize anatomical structures and assess for conditions that may contribute to OSA but do not provide the same level of information about sleep quality and respiratory disturbances as PSG. X-rays may help evaluate structural issues but lack the capability to gauge functional sleep-related parameters. Hence, while these imaging modalities can be supportive in understanding clinical presentations, they do not replace the detailed analysis afforded by polysomnography in the context