Analysis of the cause of retrolingual obstruction in patients with moderate-severe obstructive sleep apnea.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the percentage of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients with retrolingual obstruction in all moderate-severe OSA patients and the proportions of different causes in all moderate-severe OSA patients with retrolingual obstruction and to discuss the accuracy of the Friedman tongue position (FTP) and retrolingual cross-sectional area (RCSA) in assessing the retrolingual obstruction. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty moderate-severe OSA patients were enrolled. After retrolingual obstruction was diagnosed, the percentage of OSA patients with retrolingual obstruction in all moderate-severe OSA patients was calculated. After that, the different causes of retrolingual obstruction were diagnosed based on different diagnostic criteria, and the proportions of different causes in all moderate-severe OSA patients with retrolingual obstruction were calculated. Finally, the correlations between FTP, RCSA, and apnea-hypopnea index after nasopharyngeal tube insertion (NPT-AHI) were analyzed, and the proportions of different causes of retrolingual obstruction based on different FTP and RCSA were observed. RESULTS: There were 128 patients with retrolingual obstruction, accounting for 58.2% of all moderate-severe OSA patients. In 128 patients with retrolingual obstruction, the proportions of glossoptosis (48.4%), palatal tonsil hypertrophy (28.1%), and lingual hypertrophy (8.6%) were relatively high. Both FTP and RCSA did not correlate with NPT-AHI. The proportion of lingual hypertrophy increased gradually with the increase of FTP and the proportions of glossoptosis in all FTP classifications were high. The patients with RCSA > 180 mm2 were mainly affected by glossoptosis and palatal tonsil hypertrophy, while patients with RCSA ≤ 180 mm2 were mainly affected by lingual hypertrophy. CONCLUSION: The percentage of patients with retrolingual obstruction in all moderate-severe OSA patients is relatively high, mainly glossoptosis, palatal tonsil hypertrophy, and lingual hypertrophy. FTP classification and RCSA can only reflect the retrolingual anatomical stenosis, but cannot fully reflect the retrolingual functional stenosis, especially the presence of glossoptosis.

Endoscopic evaluation of neonates with signs of upper airway obstruction in the neonatal unit of a tertiary hospital.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study is to evaluate major causes of upper airway obstruction in newborns receiving healthcare at our institution, their method of endoscopic assessment and the rate of complications related to these procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a case series study of patients from institutional neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) presenting signs of ventilatory dysfunction for whom an endoscopic airway assessment was warranted. Information of interest was collected from medical records according to a Clinical and Endoscopic Assessment Protocol created for the study. The protocol included clinical manifestations needing ENT evaluation, clinical signs of ventilatory dysfunction, comorbidities (pulmonary, cardiac, neurological, and gastrointestinal), examination method (airway endoscopy under general anesthesia or awake), exam complications, and final diagnosis. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-nine newborn patients who underwent airway endoscopy (awake bedside flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy (FFL) or direct laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy (DLB) in the surgical ward) were included. Thirty-nine patients (23.07%) underwent bedside FFL. For the remaining 130 who underwent DLB under general anesthesia, the median procedure time was 30 min (20-44). Only 9 (5.32%) patients presented complications: desaturation (4), laryngospasm without desaturation with spontaneous resolution (2), apnea with resolution after stimulation (1), seizures (1), nasal bleeding (1). The most frequent diagnoses found were glossoptosis, posterior laryngeal edema, and laryngomalacia. CONCLUSION: This retrospective case series describes the prevalence of different pathologies that cause upper airway obstruction in neonates. Airway endoscopy seems an effective and safe diagnostic tool in neonatal airway obstruction. Glossoptosis was the most prevalent cause of obstruction in our center.

Accuracy of clinical swallowing evaluation for diagnosis of dysphagia in children with laryngomalacia or glossoptosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the accuracy of clinical evaluation of swallowing in a sample of children with laryngomalacia or glossoptosis and describe the prevalence of dysphagia in each of these diseases, as well as characterize the swallow response to speech and language therapy interventions. STUDY DESIGN: Children aged 1 month to 11 years receiving care at the Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, were evaluated in a cross-sectional design. Evaluation of swallowing was performed at two time points by two blinded speech-language pathologists, one responsible for clinical evaluation and the other for videofluoroscopic study. The protocols employed were based on the instruments proposed by DeMatteo et al. (DeMatteo C, Matovich D, Hjartarson A. Comparison of clinical and videofluoroscopic evaluation of children with feeding and swallowing difficulties. Dev Med Child Neurol 2005;47:149-157.). RESULTS: The study sample consisted of 29 patients: 10 patients with laryngomalacia and 19 patients with glossoptosis. The sensitivity of clinical evaluation did not exceed 50% in any of the evaluations, but specificity reached 100% in some cases, using thickened liquids. The prevalence of dysphagia was 100%, and the use of thickened liquids significantly reduced tracheal aspiration. CONCLUSIONS: Dysphagia was highly prevalent in this sample. The sensitivity of clinical evaluation to detect laryngeal penetration and tracheal aspiration was low, as the majority of aspiration events were silent. The videofluoroscopic study is important in order to determine a safest method to feed the patient. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017;52:41-47. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Glossoptosis.

Glossoptosis causes varying degrees of airway obstruction and feeding difficulties. It can occur as a consequence of micrognathia in Robin Sequence, but can also occur in children with hypotonia. Despite several attempts to classify severity in Robin Sequence patients, taking into account symptoms, presence of concomitant syndromes or malformations, and even endoscopic findings, there is still no general consensus. Furthermore, several management recommendations have been reported without an agreement about indications, efficacy, or risks of each treatment option. The present article provides an overview of clinical presentation, diagnosis, management, and prognosis of patients with glossoptosis.

Localization of glossopharyngeal obstruction using nasopharyngeal tube versus Friedman tongue position classification in obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome.

Assessing the severity of glossopharyngeal obstruction is important for the diagnosis and therapy of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). The polysomnography (PSG) with nasopharyngeal tube insertion (NPT-PSG) has shown good results in assessing glossopharyngeal obstruction. The objective of this study was to compare NPT-PSG with Friedman tongue position (FTP) classification which was also used to evaluate the glossopharyngeal obstruction. One hundred and five patients with OSAHS diagnosed by PSG were included in the study. All the patients were successfully examined by NPT-PSG. Based on the grade of FTP classification, 105 patients were divided into four groups. The differences of the general clinical data, PSG and NPT-PSG results were analyzed among the four groups. And the coincidence of diagnosing glossopharyngeal obstruction of two methods was calculated. There was no significant difference among the four groups in general clinical data and PSG results. However, NPT-PSG results were significantly different among the four groups. Following with the increasing FTP, apnea hypopnea index increased and lowest saturation of blood oxygen decreased. There were 38 patients with and other 38 patients without glossopharyngeal obstruction diagnosed by both methods. The coincidence of two methods was 72.4 %. NPT-PSG is an easy and effective method in assessing the severity of glossopharyngeal obstruction. The coincidence between the NPT-PSG and FTP classification is good. But in some special OSAHS patients such as glossoptosis, unsuccessful uvulopalatopharyngoplasty or suspicious pachyglossia, NPT-PSG is better than FTP classification.