Over the years, I have become more and more impressed by my patients and their sophisticated knowledge of obstructive sleep apnea and the latest research. As part of a national educational lecture series for sleep medicine fellows, I was recently asked to give a lecture on hypoglossal nerve stimulation in the treatment of obstrucive sleep… Read more »

One of the wonderful things about sleep surgery is that it remains a relatively small field. I have had the pleasure of getting to know leading sleep surgeons from around the world through various organizations, such as the International Surgical Sleep Society. Because we know each other well, we share experiences (good and bad) and… Read more »

We have just completed the 26th Annual Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course in San Francisco, California.  I wanted to share some interesting updates and new topics from the course.  I have truly enjoyed being a co-director of the course and look forward to it every year, learning so much… Read more »

The idea of removing tongue tissue as a surgical procedure to treat obstructive sleep apnea dates back to Shiro Fujita, MD and a 1991 publication.  Multiple technologies have been used to perform lingual tonsillectomy and midline glossectomy procedures,.  The challenge has been finding a technology that allows the procedure to be performed well without making… Read more »

Over the past 15-20 years of my own career, research and experience have dramatically improved results of sleep apnea surgery.  For example, we have recently published an international research study showing that drug-induced sleep endoscopy can guide the selection of procedures and whether someone is a good or less-ideal candidate for surgery.  In spite of… Read more »

Before performing any surgery, it is important to collect information that can help in making decisions about what type of surgery to have and what the results of surgery might be.  Sleep apnea surgery is no different.  Drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is an evaluation that can be performed in patients with obstructive sleep apnea who are considering… Read more »

  Inspire Medical’s Upper Airway Stimulation technology is a powerful (no pun intended) addition to the array of options for individuals suffering from obstructive sleep apnea.  As a surgeon who implants this therapy, I see patients (whether my own or those coming for a second opinion) where Upper Airway Stimulation is not working well.  While… Read more »

My experience and many research studies indicate that most patients with obstructive sleep apnea have what is often called multilevel obstruction. This term refers to blockage of breathing in both the Palate Region and the Tongue Region. Choosing the right sleep apnea surgery is based on careful evaluation of an individual patient and then weighing the risks and benefits of… Read more »

I was recently invited to join the Advisory Board of the American Sleep Association.  Because of their dedication to increasing awareness about the importance of sleep and sleep disorders, I agreed to this position and contributed website content related to surgical treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.  Here are links to those pages: Snoring… Read more »

Our snoring and sleep apnea course continued today with talks on a wide range of sleep apnea treatment, especially weight loss and surgical evaluation and treatment. Allan Pack, MBChB, PhD from the University of Pennsylvania started the day, speaking on key papers from the past year in the field of sleep medicine.  The prevailing wisdom… Read more »