SLEEP-GOAL: A multicenter success criteria outcome study on 302 obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate SLEEP-GOAL as a more holistic and comprehensive success criterion for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) treatment. METHODS: A prospective 7-country clinical trial of 302 OSA patients, who met the selection criteria, and underwent nose, palate and/or tongue surgery. Pre- and post-operative data were recorded and analysed based on both the Sher criteria (apnoea hypopnea index, AHI reduction 50% and <20) and the SLEEP-GOAL. RESULTS: There were 229 males and 73 females, mean age of 42.4±17.3 years, mean BMI 27.9±4.2. The mean VAS score improved from 7.7±1.4 to 2.5±1.7 (p<0.05), mean Epworth score (ESS) improved from 12.2±4.6 to 4.9±2.8 (p<0.05), mean body mass index (BMI) decreased from 27.9±4.2 to 26.1±3.7 (p>0.05), gross weight decreased from 81.9±14.3kg to 76.6±13.3kg. The mean AHI decreased 33.4±18.9 to 14.6±11.0 (p<0.05), mean lowest oxygen saturation (LSAT) improved 79.4±9.2% to 86.9±5.9% (p<0.05), and mean duration of oxygen <90% decreased from 32.6±8.9 minutes to 7.3±2.1 minutes (p<0.05). The overall success rate (302 patients) based on the Sher criteria was 66.2%. Crosstabulation of respective major/minor criteria fulfilment, based on fulfilment of two major and two minor or better, the success rate (based on SLEEP-GOAL) was 69.8%. Based solely on the Sher criteria, 63 patients who had significant blood pressure reduction, 29 patients who had BMI reduction and 66 patients who had clinically significant decrease in duration of oxygen <90% would have been misclassified as "failures". CONCLUSION: AHI as a single parameter is unreliable. Assessing true success outcomes of OSA treatment, requires comprehensive and holistic parameters, reflecting true end-organ injury/function; the SLEEP-GOAL meets these requirements.

Predictors of difficulty in intubation in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate predictors of difficult intubation in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). METHODOLOGY: Prospective series of 405 OSA patients (350 males/55 females) who had upper airway surgery. Procedures included functional endoscopic sinus surgery, septoplasty, turbinate reduction, palate/tonsil surgery, and/or tongue base surgery. Intubation difficulty (ID) was assessed using Mallampati grade, Laryngoscopic grade (Cormack and Lehane), and clinical parameters including BMI, neck circumference, thyromental distance, jaw adequacy, neck movements and glidescope grading. RESULTS: Mean age was 41.6 years old; mean BMI 26.6; mean neck circumference 44.5cm; mean Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) was 25.0; and mean LSAT 82%. The various laryngeal grades (based on Cormack and Lehane), grade 1 - 53 patients (12.9%), grade 2A - 127 patients (31.0%), grade 2B - 125 patients (30.5%), grade 3 - 93 patients (22.7%) and grade 4 - seven patients (1.7%); hence, 24.4% had difficulties in intubation. Parameters that adversely affected intubation were, age of the patient, opening of mouth, retrognathia, overbite, overjet, limited neck extension, thyromental distance, Mallampati grade, and macroglossia (p<0.001). Body mass index (BMI) (p=0.087), neck circumference (p=0.645), neck aches (p=0.728), jaw aches (p=0.417), tonsil size (p=0.048), and AHI (p=0.047) had poor correlation with intubation. BMI-adjusted for Asians and Caucasians, showed that Asians were more likely to have difficulties in intubation (adjusted OR = 4.6 (95%Confidence Interval: 1.05 to 20.06) (p=0.043), compared to the Caucasian group. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates that difficult intubation can be predicted pre-surgery in order to avert any anaesthetic morbidity.

Anterior palatoplasty in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea - a systemic review.

This study seeks to determine the objective and subjective success rates of anterior palatoplasty and its variants for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). A systematic review with two independent searches of Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Evidence Based Medicine Reviews was performed to identify publications relevant to OSA and anterior palatoplasty. All relevant studies published before 30 June 2015 were included. Six studies were included in the systematic review. The numbers of patients in each paper ranged from 13 to 77 (total = 240), and mean age ranged from 21 to 51 years. Substantial and consistent improvement in polysomnography (PSG) outcomes were observed in patients after the anterior palatoplasty, with or without multilevel surgery. The results showed that the anterior palatoplasty technique provides significantly improvement in the post-operative Apnoea-Hypopnea Index. The mean pre-operative AHI (in the 6 papers) improved from 16.3 to 7.1, the snore visual analogue scale improved from 7.5 to 3.1 and the Epworth score reduced from 11.3 to 7.3 post-operatively. The overall pro-rated pooled success rate for all the patients was 72.5%, with a mean follow-up of 17.3 months. Anterior palatoplasty is an effective option in the management of patients with mild to moderate OSA.

Food allergy and allergic rhinitis in 435 asian patients - A descriptive review.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of food allergy in Asian patients with allergic rhinitis. STUDY DESIGN: A non-randomized prospectively collected patients over a three year period, with complaints of nose congestion, rhinorrhea and/or nasal discharge. RESULTS: There were 435 patients enrolled, 213 children and 222 adults. The children group had a high prevalence of allergen specific IgE to Dermatophagoides pteryonysinus (70%), Dermatophagoides farina (69%), and Blomia tropicalis (55%); followed by dogs (32%), cats (19%) and cockroaches (19%). In the children food allergy category, the top three allergens were egg white (54%), milk (31%) and soya bean (13%). The adult group had results of Dermatophagoides pteryonysinus (71%), Dermatophagoides farina (72%), and Blomia tropicalis (59%); the adult food allergy category, the top 3 allergens were egg white (13%), milk (6%) and soya bean (5%). There was a statistically significant difference in the child and adult group for Dust, D. pteryonysinus, D. farina, B.tropicalis, egg white, wheat, gluten and soya bean. In the age specific child groups, there was an increased in egg food allergy levels, with a peak at the age of five-nine years old and decreasing thereafter (p=0.04). In the children group, the mean Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS) was 10.3 (range of 7 to 13); the adult group was similar, with a mean TNSS of 9.8 (range 5 to 12). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of food allergy in paediatric patients with allergic rhinitis is fairly high and should be considered when treating these children.

Traumatic Brown-Séquard-plus syndrome.

BACKGROUND: In the 1840s Brown-Séquard described the motor and sensory effects of sectioning half of the spinal cord. Penetrating injuries can cause Brown-Séquard or, more frequently, Brown-Séquard-plus syndromes. OBJECTIVE: To report the case of a 25-year-old man who developed left-sided Brown-Séquard syndrome at the C8 level and left-sided Horner syndrome plus urinary retention and bilateral extensor responses following a stab wound in the right side of the neck. RESULTS: Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a low cervical lesion and somatosensory evoked potentials confirmed the clinical finding of left-side dorsal column disturbance. At follow-up, the patient's mobility and bladder function had returned to normal. CONCLUSION: This patient recovered well after a penetrating neck injury that disturbed function in more than half the lower cervical spinal cord (Brown-Séquard-plus syndrome).

Genetic mapping of a major susceptibility locus for juvenile myoclonic epilepsy on chromosome 15q.

The epilepsies are a group of disorders characterised by recurrent seizures caused by episodes of abnormal neuronal hyperexcitability involving the brain. Up to 60 million people are affected worldwide and genetic factors may contribute to the aetiology in up to 40% of patients. The most common human genetic epilepsies display a complex pattern of inheritance. These are categorised as idiopathic in the absence of detectable structural or metabolic abnormalities. Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is a distinctive and common variety of familial idiopathic generalised epilepsy (IGE) with a prevalence of 0.5-1.0 per 1000 and a ratio of sibling risk to population prevalence (lambda(s)) of 42. The molecular genetic basis of these familial idiopathic epilepsies is entirely unknown, but a mutation in the gene CHRNA4, encoding the alpha4 subunit of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), was recently identified in a rare Mendelian variety of idiopathic epilepsy. Chromosomal regions harbouring genes for nAChR subunits were therefore tested for linkage to the JME trait in 34 pedigrees. Significant evidence for linkage with heterogeneity was found to polymorphic loci encompassing the region in which the gene encoding the alpha7 subunit of nAChR (CHRNA7) maps on chromosome 15q14 (HLOD = 4.4 at alpha = 0.65; Z(all) = 2.94, P = 0.0005). This major locus contributes to genetic susceptibility to JME in a majority of the families studied.

Electrical spinal-cord stimulation for painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

BACKGROUND: Conventional treatment for painful peripheral diabetic neuropathy is largely symptomatic and often ineffective, with unacceptable side-effects. We tested electrical spinal-cord stimulation for the management of chronic neuropathic pain. METHODS: Ten diabetic patients who did not respond to conventional treatment (mean age 51 [SD 9.3] years, six with type II diabetes, mean duration of diabetes 12 [6.3] years, mean duration of neuropathy 5 [2.1] years) were studied. The electrode was implanted in the thoracic/lumbar epidural space. Immediate neuropathic pain relief was assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) after connecting the electrode, in a random order, to a percutaneous electrical stimulator or to a placebo stimulator. Exercise tolerance was assessed on a treadmill. FINDINGS: Eight subjects had statistically significant pain relief with the electrical stimulator (p < 0.02) and were therefore converted to a permanent system. Statistically significant relief of both background and peak neuropathic pain was achieved at 3 months (n = 7, p = 0.016), at 6 months (n = 7, p = 0.03), and at the end of the study (14 months, n = 7, background pain p = 0.06, peak pain p = 0.03). One patient died 2 months after the start of the study of unrelated cause while continuing to benefit from treatment and another patient ceased to benefit at 4 months. McGill pain questionnaire scores with the stimulator turned off did not change significantly from baseline scores, indicating that the severity of the underlying pain was unaltered. However, with the stimulator turned on, there was a statistically significant (p < 0.05) improvement in all four components of the score, by the end of the study. At the end of the study, six patients continued to gain significant pain relief and used the stimulator as the sole treatment for their neuropathic pain. For example, median background and peak pain scores at the end of study, were, respectively, 77 and 81 with the stimulator off and 23 and 20 with the stimulator on. Exercise tolerance significantly improved at 3 months (n = 7, median % increase 85 [IQR, 62-360], p = 0.015) and at 6 months (n = 6, 163 [61-425], p = 0.0007). Electrophysiological tests, vibration perception-threshold, and glycaemic control were unchanged. INTERPRETATION: Electrical spinal-cord stimulation offers a new and effective way of relieving chronic diabetic neuropathic pain and improves exercise tolerance. The technique should be considered in patients with neuropathic pain who do not respond to conventional treatment.

Linkage analysis of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and microsatellite loci spanning 61 cM of human chromosome 6p in 19 nuclear pedigrees provides no evidence for a susceptibility locus in this region.

Linkage analysis in separately ascertained families of probands with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) has previously provided evidence both for and against the existence of a locus (designated "EJM1"), on chromosome 6p, predisposing to a trait defined as either clinical JME, its associated electroencephalographic abnormality, or idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Linkage analysis was performed in 19 families in which a proband and at least one first- or two second-degree relatives have clinical JME. Family members were typed for seven highly polymorphic microsatellite markers on chromosome 6p: D6S260, D6S276, D6S291, D6S271, D6S465, D6S257, and D6S254. Pairwise and multipoint linkage analysis was carried out under the assumptions of autosomal dominant inheritance at 70% and 50% penetrance and autosomal recessive inheritance at 70% and 50% penetrance. No significant evidence in favor of linkage to the clinical trait of JME was obtained for any locus. The region formally excluded (LOD score < -2) by using multipoint analysis varies depending on the assumptions made concerning inheritance parameters and the proportion of linked families, alpha-that is, the degree of locus heterogeneity. Further analysis either classifying all unaffected individuals as unknown or excluding a subset of four families in which pyknoleptic absence seizures were present in one or more individuals did not alter these conclusions.