Potential of facial biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and obstructive sleep apnea in Down syndrome and general population

Abstract

Down syndrome (DS), caused by trisomy 21, is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Traditional diagnostic methods for AD and OSA, like cerebrospinal fluid analysis and polysomnography, are invasive and challenging for people with DS. In this study, we assessed whetherfacial morphology could be used as a potential noninvasive biomarkerfor these conditions in both DS and the general population. We performed a comprehensive 3D analysis of facial shape variation by registering the 3D coordinates of 21 landmarks on facial models extracted from magnetic resonance images of 131 individuals with DS and 216 euploid (EU) adult controls, including AD and OSA.