{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T14:43:27Z","timestamp":1791989007867,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,26]],"date-time":"2025-12-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766707200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Inonu University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit","award":["2025\/4385"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025\/4385"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: This study aimed to quantitatively and noninvasively evaluate the changes in the Genioglossus (GG) and Geniohyoid (GH) muscles in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) using ultrasonography (US) and shear wave elastography (SWE). Methods: This prospective study included 94 adults (18\u201373 years) who underwent polysomnography (27 normal; 67 OSA). GG and GH muscle thickness was measured with US, and stiffness with SWE. Participants were grouped as non-OSA (Group 0) and OSA (Group 1). OSA patients were further divided by apnea\u2013hypopnea index (AHI) into mild, moderate, and severe (Groups 1\u20133), forming four groups including controls. Results: No significant differences were observed in genioglossus or geniohyoid muscle thickness between groups. Shear wave elastography revealed significantly higher stiffness values for both the genioglossus and geniohyoid muscles bilaterally in OSA patients compared with non-OSA individuals (approximately 2.7 m\/s vs. 2.4\u20132.5 m\/s, p &lt; 0.01). Geniohyoid muscle stiffness on both sides increased progressively with OSA severity, with significantly higher values in severe compared with mild OSA (p &lt; 0.05). In contrast, genioglossus stiffness did not differ significantly across OSA severity subgroups. Conclusions: In patients with OSA, GH and GG muscle thickness remains unchanged, but their stiffness measured by SWE increases. GH stiffness also rises with increasing disease severity. These results indicate that GG and GH muscle stiffness may serve as useful noninvasive markers for OSA.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16010087","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T08:47:27Z","timestamp":1766998047000},"page":"87","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Quantitative Assessment of Extrinsic Tongue Muscle Stiffness in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Using Shear Wave Elastography"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2124-4525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hilal","family":"Er Ulubaba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Inonu University, Malatya 44280, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9342-0244","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nurullah","family":"Da\u011f","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Inonu University, Malatya 44280, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9836-6814","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sevgi","family":"Demir\u00f6z Ta\u015folar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Inonu University, Malatya 44280, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5894-5256","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rukiye","family":"\u00c7ift\u00e7i","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Gaziantep Islam Sc\u0131ence and Technology Un\u0131vers\u0131ty, Gaziantep 27260, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1764-9098","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hilal","family":"Ermi\u015f","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chest Diseases, Inonu University, Malatya 44280, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1164\/ajrccm.165.1.2011065","article-title":"Pharyngeal Pressure and Flow Effects on Genioglossus Activation in Normal Subjects","volume":"165","author":"Malhotra","year":"2002","journal-title":"Am. 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