Note: This week, I move from the University of California, San Francisco to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.  I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and this change is solely for personal (non-work) reasons.  I look forward to joining the team at USC, where I will continue the combination of caring… Read more »

Later this month, I will return to Sao Paulo for the 7th International Symposium on Snoring and Sleep Apnea. It has been a true pleasure to join colleagues and share our experiences as well as the latest research.  Brazil is home to some of the world’s premier sleep researchers, including Dr. Geraldo Lorenzi-Filho (shown here… Read more »

As you can probably tell, I truly enjoy sharing ideas with colleagues and patients about some of the challenges we face in treating snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.  One topic that provokes particularly intense discussion is the role of the epiglottis in sleep apnea.  My colleague, Dr. Andrew Goldberg, came up with the title for… Read more »

This month’s issue of the medical journal Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery included an article written by Emmanuel Jauregui, one of our medical students at the University of California, San Francisco, that reported a case I treated with an unusual complication of hyoid suspension (sometimes called hyoid myotomy and suspension). Hyoid suspension is a procedure that… Read more »

Today’s lectures focused on patient evaluation and treatment with surgery and oral appliances. Dr. Peter Cistulli from the University of Sydney discussed findings from the MASPAP randomized trial conducted in Australia that has recently been accepted for publication in a medical journal.  This study compared mandibular advancement splints (also known as oral appliances) against continuous… Read more »

This blog post discusses an article in the February 2013 issue of the medical journal Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea are often treated solely based on a result from their sleep study: the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), the number of episodes of blockage of breathing per hour of sleep.  The AHI is… Read more »

Note: our 19th Annual Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course will be held on February 15-17, 2013, in Orlando, Florida.  It is the largest course dedicated to snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, and it combines medical and surgical evaluation and treatment in an unique format.  Please do not hesitate to… Read more »

This blog post discusses two articles in the January 2013 issue of the medical journal Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery that report outcomes for sleep apnea surgery involving removing part of the back of the tongue. Two of the major factors that cause obstructive sleep apnea and snoring are head and neck structure (anatomy) and the… Read more »

Every July for the past six years, I have been fortunate to travel to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to give lectures at the International Symposium on Snoring and Sleep Apnea at the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein.  The course is held at one of the top hospitals in Brazil and is organized by excellent, thoughtful surgeons: Drs…. Read more »

A few days before Thanksgiving, my oldest brother Peter suddenly and unexpectedly passed away.  Peter was amazing, setting an example for me and so many others.  We all dearly miss him.  This is a cruel reminder of how important it is to spend time with those close to us and make sure they know how… Read more »