Acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea

Rationale: Hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HGNS) recruits lingual muscles, reduces pharyngeal collapsibility, and treats sleep apnea. Objectives: We hypothesized that graded increases in HGNS relieve pharyngeal obstruction progressively during sleep. Methods: Responses were examined in 30 patients wi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Schwartz, A., Barnes, M., Hillman, D., Malhotra, A., Kezirian, E., Smith, P., Hoegh, T., Parrish, D., Eastwood, Peter
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23858
_version_ 1848751267816407040
author Schwartz, A.
Barnes, M.
Hillman, D.
Malhotra, A.
Kezirian, E.
Smith, P.
Hoegh, T.
Parrish, D.
Eastwood, Peter
author_facet Schwartz, A.
Barnes, M.
Hillman, D.
Malhotra, A.
Kezirian, E.
Smith, P.
Hoegh, T.
Parrish, D.
Eastwood, Peter
author_sort Schwartz, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Rationale: Hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HGNS) recruits lingual muscles, reduces pharyngeal collapsibility, and treats sleep apnea. Objectives: We hypothesized that graded increases in HGNS relieve pharyngeal obstruction progressively during sleep. Methods: Responses were examined in 30 patients with sleep apnea who were implanted with an HGNS system. Current (milliampere) was increased stepwise during non-REM sleep. Frequency and pulse width were fixed. At each current level, stimulation was applied on alternating breaths, and responses in maximal inspiratory airflow (VImax) and inspiratory airflow limitation (IFL) were assessed. Pharyngeal responses to HGNS were characterized by the current levels at which VImax first increased and peaked (flow capture and peak flow thresholds), and by the VImax increase from flow capture to peak (ΔVImax). Measurements and Main Results: HGNS produced linear increases in VImax from unstimulated levels at flow capture to peak flow thresholds (215 ± 21 to 509 ± 37 ml/s; mean ± SE; P < 0.001) with increasing current from 1.05 ± 0.09 to 1.46 ± 0.11 mA. VImax increased in all patients and IFL was abolished in 57% of patients (non-IFL subgroup). In the non-IFL compared with IFL subgroup, the flow response slope was greater (1241 ± 199 vs. 674 ± 166 ml/s/mA; P < 0.05) and the stimulation amplitude at peak flow was lower (1.23 ± 0.10 vs. 1.80 ± 0.20 mA; P < 0.05) without differences in peak flow. Conclusions: HGNS produced marked dose-related increases in airflow without arousing patients from sleep. Increases in airflow were of sufficient magnitude to eliminate IFL in most patients and IFL and non-IFL subgroups achieved normal or near-normal levels of flow, suggesting potential HGNS efficacy across a broad range of sleep apnea severity.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:50:01Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-23858
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:50:01Z
publishDate 2012
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-238582018-03-29T09:06:48Z Acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea Schwartz, A. Barnes, M. Hillman, D. Malhotra, A. Kezirian, E. Smith, P. Hoegh, T. Parrish, D. Eastwood, Peter Rationale: Hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HGNS) recruits lingual muscles, reduces pharyngeal collapsibility, and treats sleep apnea. Objectives: We hypothesized that graded increases in HGNS relieve pharyngeal obstruction progressively during sleep. Methods: Responses were examined in 30 patients with sleep apnea who were implanted with an HGNS system. Current (milliampere) was increased stepwise during non-REM sleep. Frequency and pulse width were fixed. At each current level, stimulation was applied on alternating breaths, and responses in maximal inspiratory airflow (VImax) and inspiratory airflow limitation (IFL) were assessed. Pharyngeal responses to HGNS were characterized by the current levels at which VImax first increased and peaked (flow capture and peak flow thresholds), and by the VImax increase from flow capture to peak (ΔVImax). Measurements and Main Results: HGNS produced linear increases in VImax from unstimulated levels at flow capture to peak flow thresholds (215 ± 21 to 509 ± 37 ml/s; mean ± SE; P < 0.001) with increasing current from 1.05 ± 0.09 to 1.46 ± 0.11 mA. VImax increased in all patients and IFL was abolished in 57% of patients (non-IFL subgroup). In the non-IFL compared with IFL subgroup, the flow response slope was greater (1241 ± 199 vs. 674 ± 166 ml/s/mA; P < 0.05) and the stimulation amplitude at peak flow was lower (1.23 ± 0.10 vs. 1.80 ± 0.20 mA; P < 0.05) without differences in peak flow. Conclusions: HGNS produced marked dose-related increases in airflow without arousing patients from sleep. Increases in airflow were of sufficient magnitude to eliminate IFL in most patients and IFL and non-IFL subgroups achieved normal or near-normal levels of flow, suggesting potential HGNS efficacy across a broad range of sleep apnea severity. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23858 10.1164/rccm.201109-1614OC restricted
spellingShingle Schwartz, A.
Barnes, M.
Hillman, D.
Malhotra, A.
Kezirian, E.
Smith, P.
Hoegh, T.
Parrish, D.
Eastwood, Peter
Acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea
title Acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea
title_full Acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea
title_fullStr Acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea
title_full_unstemmed Acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea
title_short Acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea
title_sort acute upper airway responses to hypoglossal nerve stimulation during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23858