Oropharyngeal collapse predicts treatment response with oral appliance therapy in obstructive sleep apnea

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To examine whether primary oropharyngeal collapse of the upper airway during sleep predicts treatment success with oral appliance therapy in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. DESIGN: Prospective physiologic study. SETTING: Multidisciplinary sleep disorders clinic in a university teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Twelve treatment-na?ve adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea (apnea-hypopnea index > or = 10/h and at least 2 of the following symptoms: snoring, fragmented sleep, witnessed apneas, or daytime sleepiness). INTERVENTION: Custom-made mandibular advancement splint (MAS). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: A baseline diagnostic polysomnogram confirmed AHI > or = 10 per hour. During the following acclimatization period, a custom-made adjustable MAS was incrementally advanced until maximum comfortable mandibular protrusion was reached. A second polysomnogram with MAS in situ determined efficacy. Following a 1-week washout period, a final sleep study was performed using multisensor catheters (with and without MAS, in random order during the same night) to determine upper-airway closing pressures and the site or sites of upper-airway collapse. MAS resulted in significant improvements, mean +/- SEM, in AHI (22.0 +/- 2.6 vs 9.2 +/- 1.9/h, p < .01) and upper-airway closing pressures during stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep (-1.1 +/- 0.3 vs -2.8 +/- 0.5 cm H2O, p < .01). All 4 patients with primary oropharyngeal collapse achieved an AHI < 5 per hour. Only 1 of the 8 patients with primary velopharyngeal collapse achieved an AHI < 5 per hour. Oropharyngeal collapse, compared with velopharyngeal collapse, predicted treatment success with MAS (p < .02). CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data suggest that primary oropharyngeal collapse of the upper airway during sleep is an important predictor of treatment outcome with MAS therapy.