[Importance of the emotional dimension when providing information to patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome]. / Intérêt de la dimension émotionnelle d'une information à destination des patients atteints d'un syndrome d'apnées obstructives du sommeil.

INTRODUCTION: To promote adaptation to treatment with continuous positive airway pressure, an information document was developed for people starting their treatment with continuous positive airway pressure. METHODS: Seven patients with obstructive sleep apnea took part in a focus group. This allowed the identification both of useful information and the best way that this information could be presented. RESULTS: The key specific information objectives and the best emotional register to use were as follows: (1) develop awareness about the physiological mechanisms and consequences that can occur from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, using formulations arousing fear, (2) enable the recognition of the symptoms, risk factors and chronicity of this syndrome, (3) reassure and motivate the patient about treatment with continuous positive airway pressure. CONCLUSIONS: To promote adaptation to positive airway pressure in early care, combining different emotional tones is preferable, mixing both fear and reassurance.

[Lateral cephalometric radiography of the upper airways for evaluation of surgical treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome]. / L'exploration téléradiographique desvoiesaériennes supérieures dans l'évaluation du traitement chirurgical des syndromes d'apnées obstructives du sommeil.

INTRODUCTION: A lateral cephalometric radiograph is frequently performed for diagnostic and pretherapeutic purposes in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). We studied the prognostic value of this exploration in terms of therapeutic outcome in surgically treated patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Fifty-five patients underwent surgery from May 1994 through December 1998. Forty-seven had phase I surgery (UPPP, hyothyrohyoidopexy and genioglossal advancement), 18 phase II surgery (bimaxillar advancement) after failure of a phase I procedure and 8 primary phase II surgery. For the "phase I" group: mean body mass index (BMI) was 26.3+/-2.9 kg/m2 and mean age was 47+/-11 years. For the "phase II" group: mean BMI was 25.9+/-3 kg/m2 and mean age was 48+/-9 years. Polysomnography was performed in all patients preoperatively and six months after each surgical procedure. The preoperative apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was 45.2+/-26.8/h of sleep for the phase I group and 53.8+/-26.9/h for the phase II group. All the patients had a lateral cephalometric radiograph, preoperatively, postoperatively, and at 6 months. The following parameters were measured on each radiograph: posterior airway space (PAS), mandibular plane-hyoid bone distance (MPH), minimal retrolingual space, minimal retrovelar space, surfaces of the rhinopharynx, the oropharynx, the hypopharynx and total upper airway surface. Therapeutic success was defined as a AHI<15/h and 50% decrease compared with the preoperative AHI, associated with normal sleep structure, respiratory microarousal score less than 15/h, normal oxymetry and absence of symptoms. RESULTS: After phase I surgery: the success rate was 21.2%. For the whole group, the total upper airway surface has significatively increased between preoperative and immediate postoperative time, as well the MPH, the PAS and the minimal retrolingual space. But at the late postoperative control, no significative difference compared with the preoperative data has been observed. The comparison between failures and successes has demonstrated that there was no difference in surface or distance benefit between the two groups. But it existed a preoperative difference as the failures have a greater rhinopharynx and a shorter retro velar oropharynx compared with the successes. This difference has been noticed in the immediate postoperative time but not in the late postoperative time. In the "failure" group, the immediate postoperative increase in the upper airway surface, the PAS and the minimal retrolingual space was totally lost in the late postoperative control. In the opposite, in the "success" group, the minimal retro velar space was the only parameter significatively increased at the postoperative time. After phase II surgery: the success rate was 76.9%. All measured parameters except rhinopharynx surface and MPH were increased at last follow-up; part of the increase in the hypopharynx and the minimal retrolingual space observed postoperatively was lost during later follow-up. Nevertheless, in the "failure" group patients, no significant increase could be demonstrated at the last postoperative control. Linear parameters (PAS, minimal retro lingual and retro velar spaces) were smaller in the "successful" group than in the "failure" group. DISCUSSION: It is difficult to ascertain the exact contribution of the lateral cephalometric radiograph to the assessment of surgical outcome. Apparently, and independently of the technique used, part of the gain in the upper airway surface observed immediately after surgery is progressively lost. We were unable to define any parameter on the lateral cephalometric radiograph predictive of success after phase I surgery. Discrimination between success and failure after phase I surgery might be related to the stability of the increase in the minimal retro velar space and the MPH. For phase II surgery, the initial shortness of the upper airway surface is a good prognostic factor for therapeutic success, defined as a stable increase in the oropharynx.

Driving ability in sleep apnoea patients before and after CPAP treatment: evaluation on a road safety platform.

Sleepiness is considered to be the major cause of increased traffic accidents in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Until now, OSAS patients' driving ability has been assessed using driving simulators, but no assessment in a more natural driving environment has been carried out to date. The aim of the present study was to evaluate driving parameters in OSAS and in controls on a road safety platform, and to compare them with attentional in-laboratory measures before and after continuous positive airway pressure treatment. The parameters measured were: reaction time; distance to stop and number of collisions on the platform; maintenance of wakefulness; and sustained, selective and divided attention in laboratory. Patients exhibited much longer reaction times than controls, leading to a lengthening of the vehicle's stopping distance of 8.8 m at 40 km.h(-1) and to twice the number of collisions. Patients did not demonstrate objective sleepiness or selective and sustained attention deficits. Divided attention deficits were found. However, they did not allow the prediction of real driving impairment. After CPAP treatment, there was no longer any difference between patients and controls regarding driving and attention performances. Driving abilities are significantly impaired in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. After continuous positive airway pressure treatment, deficits were normalised. This stresses the importance of evaluating attentional parameters in apnoeic patients and of offering continuous positive airway pressure treatment even to non-sleepy subjects.

Most obstructive sleep apnoea patients exhibit vigilance and attention deficits on an extended battery of tests.

Excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue and altered attention are often experienced by obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients. Although attentional problems are presumably responsible for part of the daytime functioning impairment in OSA, thorough investigation is unusual. Clinicians usually attribute these symptoms to somnolence. In clinical practice, only one isolated test is generally used to assess vigilance and attentional defects. It was hypothesised that most OSA patients exhibit a broad range of attentional deficits, beyond impaired maintenance of wakefulness, and a specific battery of tests is needed to correctly assess them. Three attentional tests were performed at 9:00, 11:00 and 13:30 h, measuring maintenance of wakefulness, sustained attention and divided attention. Twenty OSA patients (aged 51+/-12 yrs, apnoea/hypopnoea index 45+/-22 h) and 40 control subjects (aged 48.4+/-9.9 yrs) were tested. OSA patients performed significantly less well on the three tests than the controls at the three sessions. This battery of tests demonstrated that 95% of patients had vigilance and/or attentional impairment. Impairment patterns varied between patients. Vigilance is impaired in obstructive sleep apnoea patients over a wide range of attentional processes. Not only is their ability to remain awake in monotonous situations impaired but their ability to maintain attention in more stimulating conditions is also affected. A single test of vigilance is not sufficient and could underestimate impaired vigilance and attention in some patients.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and sleep apnoea syndrome: a family study.

BACKGROUND: Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a genetically heterogeneous group of hereditary motor and sensory polyneuropathies in which sleep apnoea has rarely been reported and no causal relation shown. We looked for an association between the most common subtype of CMT disease (CMT1A) and sleep apnoea syndrome. METHODS: Having diagnosed sleep apnoea and CMT in one family member (index case), we prospectively investigated 13 further members not previously suspected of having neuropathy or apnoeas. All had a neurological examination, electroneuromyography, polysomnography, and genetic testing for CMT disease. FINDINGS: 11 of the 14 family members had the autosomal dominant demyelinating form of CMT disease with PMP22 gene duplication on chromosome 17. Whatever their neurological disability, all 11 individuals had sleep apnoea syndrome with a mean (SD) apnoea-hypopnoea index of 46.6/h (28.5) of sleep (normal value <15/h). The remaining three family members were free from neuropathy and sleep apnoea syndrome. Sleep apnoea and neuropathy severity were highly correlated; the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitude of the median nerve was inversely correlated with the apnoea-hypopnoea index (r=-0.69, p=0.029). The severity of neuropathy and sleep apnoea were higher in male CMT individuals and were correlated with age and body mass index. No wake or sleep diaphragmatic dysfunction was shown. INTERPRETATION: We think that sleep apnoea syndrome is related to a pharyngeal neuropathy. Upper airway dysfunction, previously described in the CMT2C subtype, might be a clinical expression of the CMT1A subtype, to which familial susceptibility could predispose.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. fifty-one consecutive patients treated by maxillofacial surgery.

The place of surgical treatment in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) remains unclear. Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) has a response rate of 41% overall and only 5% when retrolingual narrowing is present. Thus, in cases with suspected hypopharyngeal collapse maxillofacial surgery has been proposed with improved results. The Stanford group has designed a step-by-step surgical procedure tailored to the specific anatomical abnormalities encountered in each patient. The goal is to avoid a full maxillomandibular advancement osteotomy (MMO), at least in a subgroup of patients, beginning with a limited mandibular osteotomy (with or without hyoid myotomy and hyothyroidopexy and with or without UPPP) (phase 1 surgery). In this procedure MMO is performed as the second or third step (phase 2 surgery). The present study reports on our prospective experience with 51 consecutive patients (64 surgical procedures) treated by the step-by-step maxillofacial surgery previously described by the Stanford team. Only 2 of the 53 patients initially treated were lost for follow-up. Surgery was considered a success if the postoperative apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) was less than 15/h with at least a 50% reduction. Forty-four patients had phase 1 surgery. The success rate was 22.7% (10 of 44). The mean AHI was unchanged with a trend for reduction in the apnea index. Twenty patients had maxillomandibular advancement surgery (phase 2) (13 failures of phase 1, 7 patients primarily because of facioskeletal deformities). The AHI decreased from 59 +/- 29/h to 11 +/- 9/h after phase 2. Of the patients 75% (15 of 20) were considered to have had a successful outcome. In conclusion, phase 1 does not seem effective in most patients with OSAS. The results of phase 2 surgery are successful in young patients with severe OSAS even if the surgical technique is more aggressive.

Effective compliance during the first 3 months of continuous positive airway pressure. A European prospective study of 121 patients.

Effective compliance (time spent at the effective pressure) with nasal CPAP in obstructive sleep apnea has been reported to be poor. The aim of our study was to evaluate effective compliance in a large European multicenter study. One hundred twenty-one consecutive newly treated patients (initial apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] = 62.0 +/- 29. 5/h, AHI under CPAP = 6.4 +/- 8.1/h, CPAP pressure = 8.7 +/- 2.6 cm H(2)O, BMI = 33.1 +/- 6.8 kg/m(2)) were randomly allocated to a group with (MC(+)) (n = 58) or without (MC(-)) (n = 63) a control unit measuring effective compliance at 1, 2, and 3 mo, which was compared with the built-in time counter data. MC(+) data were 94 +/- 10, 98 +/- 5, and 96 +/- 9% of counter data at 1, 2, and 3 mo, respectively. Using criteria of regular use already reported in the literature (at least 4 h of nCPAP per day of use and nCPAP administered more than 70% of the days) we found 77, 82, and 79% compliant patients at 1, 2, and 3 mo, respectively, 79% of the patients meeting these criteria each month. Although there were no pulmonary functions or polysomnographic differences between the two subgroups, the compliant patients did report a greater improvement in minor symptoms. We found a close correlation between effective use of CPAP and the machine run time. The main result of our study was a higher effective compliance than previously reported, approximately 80% of the patients being regular users versus 46% in a previously published study. This may result from different technical and medical follow-up.

Relationship between body mass index, age and upper airway measurements in snorers and sleep apnoea patients.

Anatomical pharyngeal and craniofacial abnormalities have been reported using upper airway imaging in snorers with or without obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). However, the influences of the age and weight of the patient on these abnormalities remain to be established. The aim of this study was, therefore, to evaluate in a large population of snorers with or without OSA, the relationship between body mass index (BMI), age and upper airway morphology. One hundred and forty patients were referred for assessment of a possible sleep-related breathing disorder and had complete polysomnography, cephalometry and upper airway computed tomography. For the whole population, OSA patients had more upper airway abnormalities than snorers. When subdivided for BMI and age, however, only lean or younger OSA patients were significantly different from snorers as regards their upper airway anatomy. The shape of the oropharynx and hypopharynx changed significantly with BMI both in OSA patients and snorers, being more spherical in the highest BMI group due mainly to a decrease in the transverse axis. On the other hand, older patients (> 63 yrs), whether snorers or apnoeics, had larger upper airways at all pharyngeal levels than the youngest group of patients (< 52 yrs). For the total group of patients, upper airway variables explained 26% of the variance in apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI), whereas in lean (BMI < 27 kg.m-2) or youngest (age < 52 yrs) subjects upper airway variables explained, respectively 69 and 55% of the variance in AHI. In conclusion, in lean or young subjects, upper airway abnormalities explain a major part of the variance in apnoea/hypopnoea index and are likely to play an important physiopathogenic role. This study also suggests that the shape of the pharyngeal lumen in awake subjects is more dependent on body mass index than on the presence of obstructive sleep apnoea. Further investigation looking at upper airway imaging for surgical selection in obstructive sleep apnoea should focus on lean and young patients.

Long-term oxygen therapy at home. Compliance with medical prescription and effective use of therapy. ANTADIR Working Group on Oxygen Therapy. Association Nationale de Traitement à Domicile des Insuffisants Respiratories.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Daily duration of oxygen administration is an important factor in the effectiveness of long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) for hypoxic chronic pulmonary disease. We have assessed the daily use of oxygen therapy in 930 patients with COPD and examined factors associated with the effective use of this treatment. METHODS: Objective daily duration of oxygen use over a 3-month period was prospectively measured using the counter clock of the oxygen concentrators or by weighing the liquid oxygen container at each delivery. A questionnaire was filled in by an independent investigator asking about home situation, lifestyle, and whether oxygen therapy was used during all domestic and outside activities. In addition, prescribing physicians were asked about the duration and modalities of oxygen prescribed in each case. RESULTS: The patients had been receiving LTOT for 36 +/- 24 months and had hypoxemia (PaO2 = 56 +/- 9 mm Hg), hypercapnia (PaCO2 = 47 +/- 8 mm Hg), and severe airflow obstruction (FEV1/VC = 42 +/- 14%). The mean duration of oxygen treatment prescribed was 16 +/- 3 h/d. The mean duration of oxygen therapy achieved was 14.5 +/- 5 h, but only 45% of the patients achieved oxygen therapy for 15 h or more per day. Patients with effective use of LTOT, ie receiving oxygen therapy for at least 15 h/d, were significantly more hypoxic (PaO2 = 54 +/- 9 vs 57 +/- 9 mm Hg; p < 0.001), more hypercapnic (PaCO2 = 48 +/- 8 vs 46 +/- 7 mm Hg; p < 0.005), and also more obstructed (FEV1/VC = 39.5 +/- 13 vs 45 +/- 14%; p < 0.001) than the rest of the patients under treatment. Other factors associated with effective use of oxygen were (1) initial prescription for 15 h or more per day, (2) supplementary education on oxygen therapy by a nurse or physiotherapist, (3) cessation of smoking, (4) use of oxygen in all domestic situations (toilet, meals, leisure, etc.), and (5) absence of side effects from oxygen treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Attention by the prescribing physicians to such factors could optimize oxygen prescription and constitute goals for education of patients.