Enhancing the Diagnosis and Management of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in Atrial Fibrillation Patients

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF), is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia, and significantly increases the risk of stroke and cardiovascular mortality. It is strongly associated with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Aims: 1. Examine the epidemiology of OSA in a hospital cohort with AF. 2. Compare the diagnostic accuracy of clinical screening tools for OSA in patients with AF. 3. Compare cardiac autonomic function in AF patients with and without OSA. 4. Conduct a pilot study of mandibular advancement splint (MAS) therapy for OSA in AF patients. Methods: 107 AF patients were recruited. The diagnostic accuracy of screening tools including a level 3 (portable) sleep study device as compared to polysomnography in AF patients was assessed. Cardiac autonomic function as a potential mechanistic link between OSA and AF was assessed using Heart Rate Variability (HRV). A pilot study of OSA treatment in AF patients using MAS therapy was conducted. Results: 62.6% of patients were newly diagnosed with OSA. Patients with moderate to severe OSA showed an increased BMI, neck circumference and Mallampati score, but were not significantly different in terms of daytime somnolence. Oxygen desaturation index (ODI) derived from a Level 3 portable sleep study device performed best for the diagnosis of moderate to severe and severe OSA, with excellent diagnostic accuracy (AUC 0.899, 95% CI 0.838 – 0.960 and AUC 0.925, 95% CI 0.859 – 0.991 respectively). We found a chronic increase in parasympathetic nervous activity in paroxysmal AF patients with OSA. MAS therapy showed high rates of acceptance, compliance and efficacy in AF patients. Conclusions: This thesis contributes to our understanding of the association between AF and OSA across a spectrum o

Obstructive sleep apnoea in adults

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is characterised by repetitive closure of the upper airway, repetitive oxygen desaturations and sleep fragmentation. The prevalence of adult OSA is increasing because of a worldwide increase in obesity and the ageing of populations. OSA presents with a variety of symptoms the most prominent of which are snoring and daytime tiredness. Interestingly though, a significant proportion of OSA sufferers report little or no daytime symptoms. OSA has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive abnormalities and mental health problems. Randomised controlled trial evidence is awaited to confirm a causal relationship between OSA and these various disorders. The gold standard diagnostic investigation for OSA is overnight laboratory-based polysomnography (sleep study), however, ambulatory models of care incorporating screening questionnaires and home sleep studies have been recently evaluated and are now being incorporated into routine clinical practice. Patients with OSA are very often obese and exhibit a range of comorbidities, such as hypertension, depression and diabetes. Management, therefore, needs to be based on a multidisciplinary and holistic approach which includes lifestyle modifications. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the first-line therapy for severe OSA. Oral appliances should be considered in patients with mild or moderate disease, or in those unable to tolerate CPAP. New, minimally invasive surgical techniques are currently being developed to achieve better patient outcomes and reduce surgical morbidity. Successful longterm management of OSA requires careful patient education, enlistment of the family’s support and the adoption of self-management and patient goal-setting principles.Australian National Health and Medical Research Counci

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: Therapeutic Options and Challenges

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder that is associated with significant negative health outcomes including cardiovascular disease, daytime sleepiness, neurocognitive deficits, and increased motor vehicle and workplace accidents. There is wide variation in OSA symptoms and other downstream effects between patients highlighting the need to individualise therapy. Continuous positive airway pressure delivered by a face mask is the gold standard treatment, but adherence to this therapy is poor and improvements in outcomes are often incomplete. A range of alternative treatments are available and may suit different patients. These include behavioural treatments such as weight loss, mandibular advancement using an oral device, sleep posture modification, upper airway surgery, and upper airway muscle stimulation. Towards individualised OSA therapy, novel phenotyping approaches are being developed to identify the specific pathophysiological causes of OSA applying to individual patients. Furthermore, research is underway to help identify patients with OSA at higher risk of daytime sleepiness and adverse cardiovascular and neurocognitive consequences and predict how individuals might respond to treatment. In this article, we review the prevalence, risk factors, and main consequences of OSA; the main treatment modalities available at present; and some new methods for phenotyping patients with OSA that hold promise for a more personalised and effective approach to screening, diagnosis, and treatment

Treatment success with continuous positive airway pressure or mandibular advancement splints in non-severe obstructive sleep apnea: A randomized controlled clinical trial on sleep quality, health-related quality of life and clinical predictors of treatment success

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a respiratory sleep-disorder characterized by repeated breathing cessations due to pharyngeal soft tissue collapse, leading to several medical disorders and possibly premature death. Two commonly used treatment alternatives for OSA are continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and mandibular advancement splints (MAS). The overall aim of this randomized clinical trial was to compare CPAP and MAS treatment regarding efficacy, compliance to treatment and the impact on self-reported sleep quality and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with non-severe OSA. In total, 104 adult patients were randomly allocated to CPAP or MAS treatment and evaluated after 4- and 12 months of treatment. Both intention-to-treat and per protocol analyses were performed for the comparisons between the treatment groups. While the number of residual respiratory events at follow-ups were lower in the CPAP treatment group than in the MAS treatment group, the compliance to MAS treatment was significantly better than compliance to CPAP treatment. The subjective sleep quality and HRQoL were similar between the treatment groups at the follow-up visits. CPAP remains the primary choice of treatment, but the comparable effect on patient-reported outcomes between CPAP and MAS treatment combined with the better compliance to MAS treatment suggests that MAS should be available as a standard treatment option for patients with non-severe OSA. The Friedman tongue position score does not seem to predict the treatment success and compliance to CPAP and MAS treatment in patients with non-severe OSA.Obstruktiv søvnapné (OSA) er en søvnlidelse som karakteriseres av gjentatte pustestans som følge av mykvevskollaps i svelget. Dette fører økt risikoen for alvorlig sykdom og tidlig død. To vanlige behandlingsalternativ for OSA er kontinuerlig luftveisovertrykk (CPAP) og søvnapnéskinner (MAS). Målet med denne randomiserte kliniske studien var å sammenligne behandling med CPAP og MAS med hensyn til bedring i antall pustestans, behandlingsetterlevelse og virkningen fra behandlinga på opplevd søvnkvalitet og helserelatert livskvalitet blant pasienter med ikke-alvorlig OSA. Totalt 104 voksne pasienter ble tilfeldig satt til behandling med CPAP eller MAS og fulgt opp med kontroller etter 4- og 12 måneder. Både «intention-to-treat-analyser» og «per protocol-analyser» ble utført ved sammenligning av behandlingsgruppene. Mens CPAP-behandlinga var klart best til å redusere antallet pustestans, var etterlevelsen til MAS-behandling betydelig bedre enn ved CPAP-behandling. Det var ingen forskjell i opplevd søvnkvalitet og helserelatert livskvalitet mellom CPAP- og MAS-gruppene etter 12 måneder med behandling. Det kan konkluderes med at søvnkvalitet og helserelatert livskvalitet etter 12 måneder med CPAP- og MAS-behandling var lik, til tross for stor forskjell i antall pustestans ved behandling. CPAP er fortsatt førstevalg ved behandling av ikke-alvorlig OSA, men effekten på pasient-rapportert søvnkvalitet og helserelatert livskvalitet sammen med god behandlingsetterlevelse tilsier at MAS burde være et tilgjengelig behandlingsalternativ til CPAP. Videre kan det se ut til at Friedmans skår for tungeposisjon ikke kan predikere vellykkethet og etterlevelse i behandling med CPAP eller MAS blant pasienter med ikke-alvorlig OSA

Principles of practice parameters for the treatment of sleep disordered breathing in the elderly and frail elderly: the consensus of the International Geriatric Sleep Medicine Task Force

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a leading cause of morbidity worldwide. Its prevalence increases with age. Due to the demographic changes in industrial societies, pulmonologists and sleep physicians are confronted with a rapidly growing number of elderly SDB patients. For many physicians, it remains unclear how current guidelines for SDB management apply to elderly and frail elderly patients. The goal of this consensus statement is to provide guidance based on published evidence for SDB treatment in this specific patient group. Clinicians and researchers with expertise in geriatric sleep medicine representing several countries were invited to participate in a task force. A literature search of PubMed from the past 12 years and a systematic review of evidence of studies deemed relevant was performed. Recommendations for treatment management of elderly and frail elderly SDB patients based on published evidence were formulated via discussion and consensus. In the last 12 years, there have been surprisingly few studies examining treatment of SDB in older adults and even fewer in frail older adults. Studies that have been conducted on the management of SDB in the older patient population were rarely stratified for age. Studies in SDB treatment that did include age stratification mainly focused on middle-aged and younger patient groups. Based on the evidence that is available, this consensus statement highlights the treatment forms that can be recommended for elderly SDB patients and encourages treatment of SDB in this large patient group

The Role of Oral Appliance Therapy in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: a review

There is now widespread recognition within the world of sleep medicine of the increasing importance of dental sleep medicine and, in particular, the role of oral appliance therapy (OAT) in the management of adults with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). For the purpose of this review, the term OAT refers to a custom-made intra-oral appliance, which acts to posture the mandible in a forward and downward direction, away from its natural resting position. Whilst nasally applied continuous positive airway pressure remains the “gold standard” in nonsurgical OSA management, OAT remains the recognised alternative treatment. This review of OAT aims to provide an evidence-based update on our current understanding of their mode of action, exploring the potential anatomical and physiological impact of their use in preventing collapse of the upper airway; the current clinical practice guidelines, including the recently published National Institute of Clinical Excellence 2021 guidance, in conjunction with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine; optimal design features, comparing the role of custom-made versus noncustom OAT devices and the importance of titration in achieving a dose-dependent effect; patient predictors, preference and adherence to OAT; its impact on a range of both patient- and clinician-centred health outcomes, with a comparison with CPAP; the limitations and side-effects of providing OAT; and, finally, a look at future considerations to help optimise the delivery and outcomes of OAT

Mandibular torus as a new index of success for mandibular advancement devices

Background: In obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), treatment with mandibular advancement devices (MADs) reduces patients' Apnoea-Hypopnoea index (AHI) scores and improves their sleepiness and quality of life. MADs are non-invasive alternatives for patients who cannot tolerate traditional continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. The variability of responses to these devices makes it necessary to search for predictors of success. The aim of our study was to evaluate the presence of mandibular torus as a predictor of MAD efficacy in OSA and to identify other potential cephalometric factors that could influence the response to treatment. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. The study included 103 patients diagnosed of OSA who met the criteria for initiation of treatment with MAD. Structural variables were collected (cephalometric and the presence or absence of mandibular torus). Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the existence of predictive factors for the efficacy of MADs. Results: A total of 103 patients who were consecutively referred for treatment with MAD were included (89.3% men); the mean age of the participants was 46.3 years, and the mean AHI before MAD was 31.4 (SD 16.2) and post- MAD 11.3 (SD 9.2). Thirty-three percent of patients had mandibular torus. Torus was associated with a better response (odds ratio (OR) = 2.854 (p = 0.035)) after adjustment for sex, age, body mass index (BMI; kg/m2), the angle formed by the occlusal plane to the sella?nasion plane (OCC plane to SN), overinjection, and smoking. No cephalometric predictors of efficacy were found that were predictive of MAD treatment success. Conclusions: The presence of a mandibular torus practically triples the probability of MAD success. This is the simplest examination with the greatest benefits in terms of the efficacy of MAD treatment for OSA

The development of pictorial tools for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is common but remains underdiagnosed and is linked with several disease states and increased risk of mortality. The key symptom, excessive daytime sleepiness, is commonly measured with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale which is not always easily completed by patients. The aim of this thesis is to develop pictorial material for assessing sleepiness and risk of OSAS. Methods: Health literacy was measured in a sample sleep population and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale was investigated for ease of use. Images were developed to translate the Epworth into pictures and the response to pictures of ‘driving while sleepy’ was investigated in detail. A new tool, the pictorial Sleepiness and Sleep Apnoea Scale, was devised by adding four sleepiness images from the pictorial Epworth to four new images representing ‘risk of OSAS’. Evaluations were made in two populations of the tool’s potential in predicting those at risk of OSAS. Results: Poor or impaired health literacy was found in 16% of patients attending the sleep clinic. Evaluation of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale found that a third of new patients made quantifiable errors. A preference for the pictorial Epworth Sleepiness Scale was reported by 55% of users and a kappa statistic indicated good agreement between the pictorial and traditional Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Drivers were more inclined to record feeling sleepy if the image in Q8 depicted the sleepy person in the car as a passenger. In a sleep clinic population the pictorial Sleepiness and Sleep Apnoea Scale was slightly better at predicting disease than the Epworth. In a cardiac rehabilitation clinic use of the witnessed apnoea image from the pictorial Sleepiness and Sleep Apnoea Scale, along with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, helped to identify symptoms suggestive of sleep apnoea in a third of those screened. When investigated with a sleep study, the prevalence of sleep–disordered breathing in this patient group was 14.8%. Conclusion: Pictorial tools for patients with potential obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome have clinical value and can help bridge the gap between poor or impaired health literacy and the material we use to assess sleepiness and likelihood of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.Open Acces