One-year results: palatal implants for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate long-term effectiveness of palatal implants for treatment of mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).


METHODS
A prospective study of 26 referred patients with a pretreatment apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 10 to 30 and a body mass index of < or =30, representing an extended follow-up of a subset of 41 patients enrolled in previous short-term trials.


RESULTS
Twenty-one of 26 patients (80.8%) experienced a decrease in AHI. Fifteen of 26 patients (57.7%) had a follow-up AHI <10 at 1 year, whereas 13 patients (50%) had a 50% or greater reduction to an AHI <10 at 1 year. Mean AHI was reduced from 16.5 +/- 4.5 at baseline to 12.5 +/- 10.5 at 3 months (P < 0.014) and to 12.3 +/- 12.7 at 1 year (P < 0.019).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients initially responding to palatal implants with improved AHI maintained improvement through long-term follow-up at 1 year.
Nordgård
Ståle
S
Department of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery, Saint Olav University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway. stale.nordgard@ntnu.no
Hein
Gerhard
G
Stene
Brit Kari
BK
Skjøstad
Ketil Wichman
KW
Maurer
Joachim T
JT
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D017286:Polysomnography; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome