[Clinical evaluation of the patient with a chronic snoring disease].
BACKGROUND
Sleep disordered breathing patients usually undergo an ENT clinical examination before any therapeutic decision is taker. This clinical examination should be predictive about the occurrence of OSAS, reproductible and should determine the sites of obstruction in the upper airways. We have evaluated the clinical ENT examination and compared it with the bibliography in order to standardize it.


METHODS
We have done the same clinical ENT examination to 181 patients. 127 had a standar polysomnography.


RESULTS
The patient's mean age was 49.6 years, the mean BMI was 29.3 kg/m2. 92.7% had an abnormal palate, 4.5% a tonsilar hipertrophy, 66.5% high Modified Mallampati scores, 60.8% were clasiffied as Fujita IIb type and 39.2% had nasal obstruction.


CONCLUSIONS
Upper airway examination is important for the assessment of chronic snoring patients. Most of them have anatomical alterations that can be represented in visual scales to make it more reproductible. The obstruction area does not predict the severity of OSAS.
Carrasco Llatas
M
M
Servicio de ORL, Hospital Dr. Peset, Valencia. fernandoymarina@ono.com
Dalmau Galofre
J
J
López Martínez
R
R
Fernández Martínez
S
S
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000473:pathology; D017286:Polysomnography; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012913:Snoring / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology