title: [The relationship between sleep position and therapeutic effect of the Esmarch-Scheine appliance in sleep apnea syndromes].
abstract: Recently an oral appliance is being used increasingly for the treatment of sleep apnea syndrome. But the success rate of oral appliance therapy shows large interindividual difference, and which factors influence its efficiency remain uncertain. To elucidate the influence of the sleep posture on the therapeutic effect of the Esmarch device, 58 patients with sleep apnea syndrome were investigated polysomnographically before and after insertion of the device. The sleep position during each apnea was classified into three types; supine, lateral and prone. The mean apnea index (25.6 +/- 18.7) decreased significantly (p < 0.0001) after insertion of the device (11.5 +/- 12.6). The number of apneas (in the supine and prone) positions was significantly reduced from 18.0 +/- 16.7 and 2.0 +/- 3.6 to 5.0 +/- 11.2, p < 0.001, and 0.3 +/- 0.4, p < 0.005, respectively, but that in the lateral position was slightly increased from 5.6 +/- 9.4 and 6.2 +/- 8.9. The percent of apneas was 70.3% for supine, 21.9% for lateral, and 7.8% for prone before therapy and 43.5%, 53.9% and 2.6%, respectively after therapy. The results indicated that the effectiveness of oral appliance therapy can differ greatly with the sleep posture. The sleep posture recorded polysomnography may be important for choice of oral appliance therapy and its prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D016684:Prone Position / Q000502:physiology; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000628:therapy*; D016683:Supine Position / Q000502:physiology