Prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea After Orticochea Pharyngoplasty for Velopharyngeal Insufficiency Management.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and its level of severity associated with Orticochea pharyngoplasty in patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency after at least 1 year of the surgical procedure. DESIGN: Case series prospective descriptive study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At FISULAB, a rehabilitation center for patients with cleft palate, we studied 37 patients who were treated elsewhere with Orticochea pharyngoplasty for velopharyngeal insufficiency; these patients may or may not have had clinical symptoms related to OSA. All participants underwent a polysomnography sleep study, which was also done in different institutions. We applied the Epworth Sleepiness Scales during the clinical investigation because it is an effective instrument used to measure average daytime sleepiness. Another questionnaire to identify cases of OSA was used. Among other variables studied, the apnea/hypopnea index was the main outcome, while age and type of cleft were secondary variables. RESULTS: From 37 patients who were studied (100%), we obtained the following results: normal apnea/hypopnea index: seven patients (18.9%); mild apnea/hypopnea index: 14 patients (37.8%); moderate apnea/hypopnea index: eight patients (21.6%); and severe apnea/hypopnea index: eight patients (21.6%). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that more than three quarters (81%) of the patients who were treated for velopharyngeal insufficiency with Orticochea pharyngoplasty presented obstructive sleep apnea when analyzing the apnea/hypopnea index in the polysomnography sleep study.

Palatoplasty as the technique of choice for prevention of obstructive sleep apnea secondary to surgery for velopharyngeal insufficiency.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to compare patients treated with pharyngoplasty and those treated with palatoplasty for velopharyngeal insufficiency to establish what surgical procedure poses the highest risk for developing sleep apnea. The hypothesis tested in this study is that the incidence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome associated with pharyngoplasty is greater than that associated with palatoplasty for velopharyngeal insufficiency. SUBJECTS: Twenty patients were taken from the Institution FISULAB. DESIGN: Observational cohort analytic study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: An overnight polysomnographic study was used to determine the incidence and severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. RESULTS: The incidence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome following pharyngoplasty was shown to be significantly higher than after palatoplasty. The apnea-hypopnea index, also called the respiratory disturbance index, was 12.7 in the pharyngoplasty group and 1.35 in the palatoplasty group (p < .001). When obstructive sleep apnea syndrome was stratified into different levels of severity according to the values of respiratory disturbance index, there were noticeable differences between these two groups. In the palatoplasty group, one patient had mild obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. In the pharyngoplasty group, two patients had mild obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, one patient had moderate obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, and two patients had severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: When comparing the apnea-hypopnea index (i.e., respiratory disturbance index) of patients treated for velopharyngeal insufficiency with palatoplasty versus pharyngoplasty, we observed an important difference between the groups, with the highest indices in the pharyngoplasty group.

Demineralized bone matrix for alveolar cleft management.

The aim of this article is to describe the results of the use of demineralized bone matrix putty in alveolar cleft of patients with cleft lip and palate. We performed a prospective, descriptive case series study, in which we evaluated the results of the management of alveolar clefts with demineralized bone matrix. Surgery was performed in 10 patients aged between 7 and 26 years (mean 13 years), involving a total of 13 clefts in the 10 patients. A preoperative cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) was taken to the patients in whom the width of the cleft was measured from each edge of the cleft reporting values between 5.76 and 16.93 mm (average, 11.18 mm). The densities of the clefts were measured with a CBCT, 6 months postoperative to assess bone formation. The results showed a register of gray values of 1,148 to 1,396 (mean, 1,270). The follow-up was conducted for 15 to 33 months (mean, 28.2 months). The results did not show satisfactory bone formation in the cleft of patients with the use of demineralized bone matrix.