Predicting Outcomes in Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation Therapy With Stimulated Upper Airway Mechanics

Johns Hopkins University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Sleep Apnea, Obstructive

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05429983

IRB00319723

278-jf-22 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent disease resulting from dynamic upper airway collapse during sleep. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is highly efficacious but high rates of non-adherence to CPAP leaves large number of OSA patients at risk for cardiometabolic sequelae. Inspire™ is an FDA-approved hypoglossal nerve stimulation device (HGNS) used in select patients with OSA who are intolerant of CPAP. The device consists of an implanted impulse generator with a stimulating cuff lead around the distal hypoglossal nerve. Despite these stringent selection criteria, up to one-third of patients implanted have inadequate responses to HGNS and remain at risk for complications from untreated OSA. The current proposal builds on routine clinical care to characterize upper airway biomechanics and determine predictors of clinical responses to HGNS therapy.

Drug induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is a prerequisite for HGNS treatment and represents an ideal opportunity to rapidly characterize upper airway dynamics under controlled, standardized conditions. The amount of nasal pressure required to relieve airway obstruction (minimal therapeutic pressure) is a significant predictor of successful treatment of OSA with HGNS. As a result, CPAP titration (measuring pharyngeal collapse patterns at varying nasal pressures) has become an integral part of DISE to select parties for HGNS at multiple institutions. Nevertheless, changes in upper airway collapsibility in response HGNS may differ significantly between patients. This stud will examine if changes in upper airway patency with direct genioglossus muscle stimulation at the time of DISE predicts successful treatment with HGNS as defined by a 50% reduction on apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and an on-treatment AHI <20.

Enrollment: 60 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Male and female participants with moderate or severe sleep apnea (defined by > 15 apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep), who are undergoing DISE as part of routine evaluation for Inspire hypoglossal nerve stimulation therapy or for ineffective HGNS therapy.

Exclusion criteria

• Significant cardiac disease, unstable or recent cardiac events
• Active pulmonary, liver or renal disease
• Uncontrolled hypertension (BP>160/100)
• Neuromuscular disease
• Major psychiatric disease
• Pregnancy
• Anticoagulation therapy (e.g. Coumadin, Dabigatran)

Trial design

60 participants in 1 patient group

Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation Candidates

Description:

Participants will have a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea and have failed treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Participants will be those undergoing drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) as part of routine clinical care for work up of hypoglossal nerve stimulation candidacy as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.