Author(s)
Thomas H. Fitzpatrick IV MD
Pavan S. Krishnan BS
Noah J. Hillerbrand BS
Ryan S. Nord MD
Affiliation(s)
VCU;
Abstract:
Educational Objective: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participants should be able to recall criteria for patients seeking hypoglossal nerve stimulation, and better understand who might benefit most from this treatment.
Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine what demographic factors correlate with greater rates of upper airway stimulation adherence and efficacy.
Study Design: The study is a case control study, comparing demographic factors for patient groups with different outcomes.
Methods: We queried a single surgeon's database of UAS cases, totaling 97 at the time of study. The electronic medical record (EMR) was queried for each patient and pertinent demographics were recorded. We began by defining cohorts: super-adherers were those > 6 hours of nightly device use; non-adherers < 4. Super-responders had a postoperative AHI and ESS < 10, and > 80% decrease in AHI. Non-responders had an AHI > 20 and < 50% decrease. Super-performers met both super-adherer responder criteria, while non-performers similarly met both negative criteria.
Results: Overall, 97 patients underwent hypoglossal nerve stimulation with an average AHI reduction of 67.1%, and 6.2 hours of nightly adherence. 11 patients were defined as super-performers, and 3 as non-performers. 20 patients were super responders vs 11 non-responders. 49 were super-adherers vs 34 non-adherers. P values for various categories will be displayed in table 1, no difference was found between the groups as age, BMI, sex, preop AHI, and preop VOTE score were examined.
Conclusions: Upper airway stimulation is an effective treatment for patients intolerant of CPAP. In this review, there were no statistically significant differences found between the best and lowest performing patients when evaluating baseline demographic factors.