title: Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Role of an Otorhinolaryngologist.
abstract: Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder resulting from collapse of the upper airway during sleep. Its etiology is multifactorial, resulting from the interdependence of structurally vulnerable upper airway anatomy interacting with physiologic mechanism of ventilator instability during sleep. The ENT causes for OSA are relatively simple conditions that can be treated by safe and simple medical and/or surgical procedures. To assess the prevalence of ENT disorders in patients presenting to the sleep clinic. Patients presented to sleep clinic were submitted to an assessment protocol including clinical history, otorhinolaryngology examination and a polysomnography. Total 69 patients were included and distributed into two groups according to AHI: patients with sleep disordered breathing only (simple snorer and/or AHI ≤ 5) and patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (AHI > 5). There was significant statistical difference for deviated nasal septum (p = 0.0004) and inferior turbinate hypertrophy (p = 0.03) in both groups. Most patients were in the class III and IV of Mallampati classification. Odds of having OSA increases more than 1.5 folds as the level of Mallampati classification increases by one class. ENT disorders were more common in the patients with OSA than in simple snorers and have impact on pathophysiology of OSA and its treatment modality. Hence, ENT examination in all patients with sleep disordered breathing will be helpful.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Smt. B. K. Shah Medical Institute and Research Centre, Piparia, Waghodia, Vadodara, Gujarat 391760 India.
authors.forename: Jinesh Atulkumar
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1179-3141
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Smt. B. K. Shah Medical Institute and Research Centre, Piparia, Waghodia, Vadodara, Gujarat 391760 India.
authors.forename: Ajay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Smt. B. K. Shah Medical Institute and Research Centre, Piparia, Waghodia, Vadodara, Gujarat 391760 India.
authors.forename: Nirali
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chauhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Smt. B. K. Shah Medical Institute and Research Centre, Piparia, Waghodia, Vadodara, Gujarat 391760 India.
authors.forename: Stani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Francis
keywords: Deviated nasal septum; Inferior turbinate hypertrophy; Mallampati classification; Obstructive sleep apnea