Curriculum development for the Saudi sleep medicine fellowship program.

Objectives: Given the rapid global development of sleep medicine, well-qualified sleep medicine physicians are necessary to meet the demand. Although sleep medicine was accredited as an independent specialty in KSA in 2012, national data suggest that the number of trained and accredited sleep medicine specialists remains comparatively low. A structured sleep medicine fellowship programme was established in KSA in 2009. However, universities issued training and certification without a national training programme under the auspices of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS). Therefore, plans have been made to establish a national interdisciplinary sleep medicine training programme to serve the whole country. Methods: In 2020, the SCFHS mandated the Specialty Curriculum Development Committee of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program to develop the National an adult sleep medicine national program. Results: The committee developed an adult sleep medicine fellowship programme curriculum and requirements to ensure that trainees become competent at assessing, diagnosing, and managing various sleep disorders. The curriculum was approved by the head of the Curricula Editorial Board of the SCFHS. Conclusions: This paper presents the curriculum and admission requirements for the newly developed Saudi Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program.

Results of CPAP Titration and Short-Term Adherence Rates in Patients with Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome and Mild/Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Purpose: No study has assessed the titration success of CPAP therapy in patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) and an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) <30 event/h. This study aimed to assess the titration success of CPAP therapy under polysomnography and subsequent short-term adherence (1 month) in patients with OHS and an AHI <30 event/h. Methods: Consecutive OHS patients with an AHI <30 events/h between 2010 and 2019 were included (n=54). All OHS patients were first started on CPAP during the therapeutic sleep-study. If the therapeutic-study showed that the SpO2 remained < 90% for 20% of the total sleep time, a second therapeutic study was arranged with bi-level PAP (BPAP). Thirty patients agreed to participate in the 1-month follow-up adherence study. We applied the American-Thoracic-Society criteria for PAP adherence. Results: The mean age was 54.8±14.6 years, and the mean BMI was 45.9±12.2 kg/m2. Successful titration on CPAP was attained in 36 (66.7%) patients, and 18 (33.3%) required BPAP. Patients who failed the CPAP trial had a significantly higher PaCO2 and bicarbonate, a more restrictive respiratory pattern on spirometry, and a significantly higher time with SpO2<90% (mins) during sleep. The only independent correlate of CPAP-titration success on the multivariable regression analysis was the desaturation index (OR: 1.33 [1.033-1.712]). More than 80% of the participants were using CPAP therapy after one-month with no differences in adherence between the CPAP and BPAP groups. Conclusions: The current results suggest that CPAP therapy could be an acceptable alternative therapy to BPAP in patients with OHS without severe OSA.

Blood pressure dipping during REM and non-REM sleep in patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.

A limited number of papers have addressed the association between non-dipping-blood pressure (BP) obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and no study has assessed BP-dipping during rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep in OSA patients. This study sought to noninvasively assess BP-dipping during REM and non-REM (NREM)-sleep using a beat-by-beat measurement method (pulse-transit-time (PTT)). Thirty consecutive OSA patients (men = 50%) who had not been treated for OSA before and who had > 20-min of REM-sleep were included. During sleep, BP was indirectly determined via PTT. Patients were divided into dippers and non-dippers based on the average systolic-BP during REM and NREM-sleep. The studied group had a a median age of 50 (42-58.5) years and a body mass index of 33.8 (27.6-37.5) kg/m2. The median AHI of the study group was 32.6 (20.1-58.1) events/h (range: 7-124), and 89% of them had moderate-to-severe OSA. The prevalence of non-dippers during REM-sleep was 93.3%, and during NREM-sleep was 80%. During NREM sleep, non-dippers had a higher waist circumference and waist-hip-ratio, higher severity of OSA, longer-time spent with oxygen saturation < 90%, and a higher mean duration of apnea during REM and NREM-sleep. Severe OSA (AHI ≥ 30) was defined as an independent predictor of non-dipping BP during NREM sleep (OR = 19.5, CI: [1.299-292.75], p-value = 0.03). This short report demonstrated that BP-dipping occurs during REM and NREM-sleep in patients with moderate-to-severe OSA. There was a trend of more severe OSA among the non-dippers during NREM-sleep, and severe OSA was independently correlated with BP non-dipping during NREM sleep.

The Associations of Gender, Menopause, Age, and Asthma with REM-Predominant Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Prospective Observational Study.

PURPOSE: The study sought to assess demographics, clinical features, comorbidities, and polysomnographic features of a large cohort of clinic-based patients with rapid eye movement-predominant obstructive sleep apnea (REM-predominant-OSA) in both genders, while assessing the relationship between REM-predominant OSA in one hand and menopausal status and age on the other. METHODS: This prospective observational study was conducted between January 2003 and December 2017. REM-predominant OSA diagnostic criteria included an AHI of ≥5/h, with REM-AHI/non-REM-AHI of >2, a non-REM-AHI of <15/h, and a minimum of 15 min of REM sleep. Patients who had an AHI>5 events/h and did not meet the criteria for REM-predominant OSA were included in the non-stage-specific OSA group (NSS). RESULTS: The study consisted of 1346 men and 823 women (total=2169). REM-predominant OSA was diagnosed in 17% (n=369). The prevalence of REM-predominant OSA in women was 25% compared with 12% in men. Several independent associations of REM-predominant OSA were identified in the whole group, including age (OR: 0.97 [0.95-0.98], p<0.01), female sex (OR: 6.95 [4.86-9.93], p>0.01), REM sleep duration (min) (OR: 1.02 [1.02-1.03], < 0.01), and time with SpO2 <90% (mins) (OR: 0.97 [0.95-0.99], < 0.01), hypertension (OR:0.67 [0.45-0.99], 0.04) and asthma (OR: 2.19 [1.56-3.07], < 0.01). The prevalence of REM-predominant OSA in premenopausal and postmenopausal women was 35% and 18.6% (p< 0.01), respectively. Among women, age was an independent correlate (OR: 0.97 [0.94-0.99], p=0.03; however, menopausal status was not. CONCLUSION: REM-predominant OSA is prevalent among clinic-based patients with OSA. A younger age and female sex were independent correlates of REM-predominant OSA. Among women, a younger age but not menopausal status was a correlate of REM-predominant OSA. Asthma was independently associated with REM-predominant OSA.

Management of Aerosol during Noninvasive Ventilation for Patients with Sleep-Disordered Breathing: Important Messages during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With the advent of COVID-19 infection and its rapid spread, preventive strategies are being developed worldwide, besides following the universal infection control guidelines. Prevention of spread through aerosol generation is one of the essential strategies in this regard, particularly for patients with sleep-disordered breathing at home and during hospital admission. Aerosols are produced, at home and in health care facilities, by natural processes and aerosol-generating procedures. To address this impinging problem, aerosol-generating procedures, like non-invasive ventilation (NIV), are to be handled meticulously, which might warrant isolation and sometimes device/interface modifications.

Reopening Sleep Medicine Services in the Conundrum of an Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global View.

The emergence of COVID-19 brought all healthcare services around the globe to immense strain; hospitals abandoned elective care for acute care. Like all other elective services, sleep medicine services suffered a partial deadlock due to the closing down of the sleep disorders diagnostic and therapeutic services, although clinical consultations and follow-ups, carried on remotely, allowed some mitigation. Since there is dire need to resume the services, we tried to formulate the principles and guidelines to work in this exigent healthcare setting. Principles and guidelines are based on epidemiological and infection control guidelines besides recommendations of various healthcare organizations and sleep societies, after a requisite web search to extract the data.