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 »

Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation for sleep apnea is a powerful and exciting treatment for many patients who do not succeed with positive airway pressure therapy (for example, CPAP or BPAP).  Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation for sleep apnea is a system that involves a surgical procedure to implant 3 components.  These components work together to deliver stimulation to the… Read more »

I just returned from giving lectures at the 13th Annual Middle East Update in Otolaryngology conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  I had never visited Dubai before, and it was wonderful to share experiences with colleagues from throughout the Middle East and beyond while having the additional bonus of seeing a new part of the world.  Beyond the conference, it… Read more »

On April 15-16, 2016, the seventh scientific meeting of the International Surgical Sleep Society was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The ISSS Sao Paulo meeting was the largest and most-comprehensive meeting of our organization.  As a co-organizer, we took the opportunity to expand the program, especially the discussions focused on pediatric sleep surgery and treatment with maxillofacial… Read more »

This past weekend, I gave a lecture at the USC Advanced Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Course on the impact of nasal surgery for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.  A previous blog post examined recent research showing that studies show that nasal surgery, by itself, does not alleviate sleep apnea in most patients but that it can improve… 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 »

I wanted to share highlights from our 22nd Annual Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course in San Francisco.  I am admittedly biased as a Co-Director of the course, but I think this is one of the best available, especially for surgeons.  The snoring and sleep apnea course program includes lectures… Read more »

Excellent outcomes at 3 years after implantation of the Inspire Medical Upper Airway Stimulation system were reported in the January 2016 issue of the medical journal Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.  Many types of sleep apnea surgery have solid research evidence demonstrating multiple benefits, from improvements in health and sleep quality (treating sleepiness and quality of life) to… Read more »

The International Surgical Sleep Society is the world’s major organization dedicated to snoring and sleep apnea surgery.  I am honored to be the current President of the ISSS and am excited with new developments that we have recently announced. Next ISSS Meeting: Sao Paulo, Brazil in April 2016 The ISSS has focused their efforts on… Read more »

I see patients all the time who are coming in for the first time to see someone for an evaluation of snoring and possible sleep apnea.  After I explain what sleep apnea is and order a sleep study, they almost always have a few questions: If I have sleep apnea, what are my treatment options?… Read more »