Rapid development of obstructive sleep apnea following hemidiaphragmatic and unilateral vocal cord paralysis as a complication of mediastinal surgery.
We describe a patient with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who is unusual in two respects: 1) rapid development of severe OSA over a period of two to four months, and 2) direct temporal association between development of OSA and mediastinal surgery complicated by unilateral paralysis of the phrenic nerve and the recurrent laryngeal nerve.
D002276:Carcinoid Tumor / Q000601:surgery*; D003964:Diaphragm; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010243:Paralysis / Q000209:etiology*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D014140:Tracheotomy; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000209:etiology*