Analysis of Snoring Sound in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients Based on Obstruction Site / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The detection of obstruction site is very important for the surgical treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Among the various diagnostic modalities for detection that have been tried, an analysis of snoring sound could be a simple and safe alternative. This study evaluates the usefulness of sound analysis in OSA as a detection tool of obstruction site. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Fifteen patients who had been enrolled for the suspicion of OSA were studied. They were examined by videofluoroscopy and polysomnography to evaluate the obstruction site. During videofluoroscopy, snoring sound was recorded simultaneously. The snoring sound was analyzed by using Matlab program and its sonic characteristics were evaluated on the basis of the results in polysomnography and videofluoroscopy. RESULTS: According to the videofluoroscopy, 5 out of 15 patients showed narrowness only in the soft palate, while the rest of the 10 patients showed narrowness both in the soft palate and tongue base. Most of the snoring sound from the soft palate was of a low tone, under 1000 Hz, while the snoring sound from both soft palate and tongue base showed a high tone band, over 1000 Hz frequently and hump around 10 kHz. There was no specific correlation between apnea-hypopnea index and sonic characteristic. CONCLUSION: The analysis of snoring sound may be a useful tool for detecting the obstruction site in OSA.

Survey of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Use in Korea

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Positive airway pressure (PAP) is the most effective treatment tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), however adherence rate of PAP is known to be very low. The objective of this study is to investigate the adherence rate of PAP in Korea. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We reviewed sales data from a PAP vendor. OSA patients who were referred to this vendor had a chance to experience PAP for a month. After that, patients were supposed to buy PAP or return it. We investigate the rate of patients who bought PAP, and asked the patients who had bought it whether they are still using it or not. We asked the reason to the patients who are not using it anymore. RESULTS: Among 724 OSA patients who used PAP for one month, 256 patients bought PAP and others refused it. We could survey 190 patients among 256 who had bought PAP. Among them, 34 patients did not use PAP anymore. The rest 156 patients said that they are still using it. CONCLUSION: Contrary to our expectation, only a small number of obstructive sleep apnea patients use it. We must be cautious when to prescribe PAP to obstructive sleep apnea patients.