Dr. Kezirian’s Blog

I just returned from a trip to Philadelphia for the back-to-back meetings of the International Surgical Sleep Society and American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. Coming together in-person with long-time colleagues who are also friends to share experiences and ideas was wonderful. A great deal of the meeting was focused on neurostimulation,… Read more »

Twitter and other social media platforms are tremendous resources for sharing information about sleep disorders. I do not pretend to be a social media expert, so I apologize for my simplistic explanations or mistakes here. Patients and health care providers may rely on information available on the Internet (I know I sometimes do). Hashtags allow… Read more »

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy has demonstrated clearly that the epiglottis can play an important role in obstructive sleep apnea in about 5-10% of patients. Surgical treatment approaches suggest that that treatment of the epiglottis specifically can provide substantial improvement in these cases. Multiple procedures have been proposed as options in cases of epiglottis-related obstruction; two of… Read more »

When patients with obstructive sleep apnea cannot tolerate positive airway pressure therapy (e.g., CPAP), they should consider other treatment options, including surgery and oral appliances. My career has focused on the surgical evaluation and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and snoring. When I started in this field, the main surgical option was traditional uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, and… Read more »

Weight loss has been proven to be a key cause of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). I have written previously on the research from Richard Schwab, MD at the University of Pennsylvania, showing that the connection appears to be related to fat storage (and likely muscle mass too) in the head and neck. This work is… Read more »

It is known that biomedical research studies include a disproportionate share of non-Hispanic White, middle-aged men. I am no expert, but it is obvious to me that research is most valuable when it reflects the diversity of our patient population and, indeed, our country. On this day that honors Jackie Robinson and his legacy in… Read more »

My entire career has focused on sleep disorders, especially obstructive sleep apnea and snoring, and I enjoy spreading science-based information about sleep to the public. I am fortunate to receive inquiries from members of the media and appreciate the opportunity to help in any way I can. Kathryn Drury Wagner contacted me for an article… Read more »

We have just completed the 27th Annual Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course in San Francisco, California. It has been wonderful to be a co-director for about 15 years, and I learn so much myself in every course. This year we did something different: a virtual format! We can thank… Read more »

Like most surgical treatments throughout medicine, research studies typically evaluate short-term outcomes. In sleep surgery, most studies report results at 3-6 months following surgery. There are notable exceptions – including 5-year outcomes reported for Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation in the STAR Trial presented at the Sleep 2017 meeting and then published in the medical journal… Read more »

The December 2021 Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine included two papers outlining the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommendations regarding surgical consultation for adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The first publication was an assessment of the literature, finding that: Upper airway surgery was associated with meaningful improvements in OSA signs and symptoms Upper… Read more »