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Characterizing Upper Airway Collapse to Guide Patient Selection for Oral Appliance Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

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Mass General Brigham

Status

Completed

Conditions

Sleep Apnea, Obstructive

Treatments

Device: BluePro oral appliance
Device: Oral appliance

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT02489591
2012P000957

Details and patient eligibility

About

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is characterized by collapse of one or more pharyngeal structures during sleep (velum, tongue base, lateral walls, epiglottis). Structure-specific therapies for OSA have emerged as alternatives to positive airway pressure (PAP). Oral appliance (OA) therapy is increasingly being indicated for OSA treatment, although a complete response occurs in approximately 50% of patients. In general, OA devices are designed to maintain the mandible and/or tongue in a protruded posture during sleep, preventing upper airway obstruction. Limited studies in awake or sedated patients have demonstrated the effects of mandibular advancement on aspects of pharyngeal structure and function. The objective of the proposed research is to fully characterize upper airway collapse in OSA patients during natural sleep and use this information to understand why some patients appear to exhibit a large improvement in pharyngeal collapsibility whereas others do not.

Full description

OSA patients will undergo a baseline sleep endoscopy study to identify the site of pharyngeal collapse. Subsequently, they will undergo two clinical polysomnographies (PSGs) to measure the effect of an oral appliance (a site specific therapy) on upper airway collapsibility and sleep apnea severity. During the first hour of each clinical PSG, the passive pharyngeal collapsibility will be determined using the standard 5-breath continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) drop method. During the remainder of the night, patients will be monitored to determine sleep apnea severity (apnea-hypopnea index). These measurements will allow the investigators to determine which pharyngeal collapsing site responds best (both in terms of collapsibility and AHI) to mandibular advancement with an oral appliance. Patients who have their own oral appliance will be recruited. In addition, patients without an oral appliance will be provided with a temporary oral appliance for the study.

Enrollment

25 patients

Sex

All

Ages

21 to 70 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Exclusion criteria

  • Any unstable cardiac condition (other than well controlled hypertension) or pulmonary problems.
  • Any medication known to influence breathing, sleep/arousal or muscle physiology
  • Concurrent sleep disorders (insomnia, narcolepsy, central sleep apnea or parasomnia)
  • Claustrophobia
  • Inability to sleep supine
  • Periodontal disease and/or insufficient number of teeth
  • Allergy to lidocaine or oxymetazoline hydrochloride
  • For women: Pregnancy

Trial design

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Crossover Assignment

Masking

None (Open label)

25 participants in 2 patient groups

Control
No Intervention group
Description:
No oral appliance (control) first, oral appliance (BluePro oral appliance or other device) second
Oral appliance
Experimental group
Description:
oral appliance (BluePro oral appliance or other device) first, no oral appliance (control) second
Treatment:
Device: BluePro oral appliance
Device: Oral appliance

Trial contacts and locations

1

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Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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