Sleep Apnea

The growing awareness of the importance of sleep and sleep disorders over the past 15-20 years of my career has been exciting and helpful to so many individuals around the world.  This awareness has been driven by major organizations, thought leaders, and the media – ranging from medical journals to the lay press to online… Read more »

Recently I was introduced to a website called The Conversation, which indicates its goal as providing “academic content, journalistic flair”.  In looking at their site, I was impressed that they really do deliver on this promise.  I will admit that I do not have the writing skills of a journalist, but I was flattered that… Read more »

You never want to be an expert on surgical complications.  During my residency training, I was fortunate to work under the guidance of Edward M. Weaver, MD, MPH at the University of Washington on studies of serious complications occurring after obstructive sleep apnea surgery in over 3100 patients at Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in the… 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 »

While sleep apnea mostly affects men, women (especially those who are hoping to become pregnant) are at risk too. Learn about Jose’s and Rachel’s road to recovery. I love writing about the latest research related to the surgical evaluation and treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.  Research studies are important, but sometimes it is… Read more »

Inspire Medical’s Upper Airway Stimulation therapy is a treatment option for many patients with obstructive sleep apnea who do not tolerate positive airway pressure therapy (for example, CPAP).  There are a few steps to determining whether a patient is a good candidate, including performing drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE).  If you are interested in more background… 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 »

Recently, our international, multicenter study examining drug-induced sleep endoscopy and surgery outcomes in those with obstructive sleep apnea but without markedly enlarged tonsils was published in the medical journal Laryngoscope.  I have written on this blog about the research findings and the implications for sleep surgery and the decisions that sleep apnea surgeons make for their… Read more »

I have written previously about international research efforts, whether one showing the benefits of drug-induced sleep endoscopy or investigating cardiovascular benefits of sleep apnea treatment with INCOSACT.  Generally these collaborations bring together major centers from around the world to increase the numbers of study participants, but they can also examine research questions with a more-diverse… Read more »

We have just completed the 25th Annual Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course in Orlando, Florida.  I wanted to share some interesting updates and new topics that I have not discussed previously, such as with my blog post about the 2018 course.  I have truly enjoyed being a co-director of… Read more »