Risk factors for residual mouth breathing in children who had completely resolved obstructive sleep apnea after adenotonsillectomy.

PURPOSE: Adenotonsillectomy is the first-line treatment for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, although completely resolved OSA after adenotonsillectomy, some children still showed persistence of mouth breathing. Therefore, we attempted to identify risk factors for residual mouth breathing in children with OSA after successful adenotonsillectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study retrospectively enrolled children who underwent adenotonsillectomy as a treatment of OSA. Additionally, children who showed apnea-hypopnea index ≥ 1 on 1-year postoperative polysomnography or adenoid regrowth on one-year postoperative lateral cephalogram were excluded. The presence of allergic rhinitis, septal deviation, dentofacial abnormalities, the size of tonsil and adenoid was also evaluated in all enrolled children. Dentofacial abnormalities were defied as a high palatal arch, macroglossia, retrognathia, micrognathia, and overcrowding of teeth which assessed by dentists. RESULTS: A total of 62 children were enrolled (no residual mouth-breathing group, n = 18 and residual mouth-breathing group, n = 44) in this study. There were no significant differences in demographic factors, physical examination, and sleep parameters, except age and preoperative adenoid size. On the multiple logistic regression analysis, we found that older age, large adenoid size, and presence of dentofacial abnormalities significantly correlated with residual mouth breathing (adjusted coefficient estimates = 0.3890, 2.3611, and 2.8615, respectively) after successful adenotonsillectomy. CONCLUSIONS: Older age, large adenoid size, and presence of dentofacial abnormalities in children with OSA may be the risk factors for residual mouth breathing after successfully resolved OSA.

Assessment of haemodynamic effects of surgical correction for severe functional tricuspid regurgitation: cardiac magnetic resonance imaging study.

AIMS: There has been growing attention for the development of functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) long after left-sided valve surgery. We attempted to determine the long-term haemodynamic effects of corrective surgery for severe functional TR in patients who had prior left-sided valve surgery using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-one patients with severe functional TR (TR fraction of 46.0+/-16.2% by CMR) were analysed. CMR was performed within 1 month before and at a median 27.0 months after surgery. Long after TR surgery, 28 of the 31 patients had no or mild residual TR, two had mild-to-moderate TR, and one showed moderate TR. Remarkable reductions in the right ventricular (RV) end-diastolic volume index (RV-EDVI) (177.4+/-59.1 mL/m(2) vs. 118.2+/-31.2 mL/m(2), P<0.001) and end-systolic volume index (RV-ESVI) (88.5+/-30.1 mL/m(2) vs. 67.2+/-31.0 mL/m(2), P=0.002) were observed, whereas RV ejection fraction (RV-EF) showed no change (49.7+/-8.3% vs. 44.9+/-12.5%, P=0.09). Pre-operative RV-EDVI (R=-0.86, P<0.001) and RV-ESVI (R=-0.55, P=0.001) were significantly associated with their respective changes after corrective surgery. Post-surgery, a normal RV-EF was achieved in 14 patients (42.5%). Pre-operative RV-EDVI of 164 mL/m(2) effectively discriminated patients with normal RV-EF from those without post-surgery, with a sensitivity of 77% and a specificity of 72% (P=0.01). A significant rise in the left ventricular (LV) EDVI and cardiac index (CI) was found after surgery (from 92.9+/-24.4 to 123.2+/-31.6 mL/m(2) for LV-EDVI, P<0.001; from 3.8+/-1.3 to 4.2+/-0.8 L/min/m(2) for CI, P=0.03). Functional capacity as assessed by NYHA class showed a significant improvement from 2.7+/-0.6 before surgery to 2.0+/-0.6 long after surgery (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Successful TR surgery can remarkably reduce RV volumes and preserve RV systolic function. In addition, successful TR surgery led to a significant rise in LV preload and CI, which may significantly contribute to a significant amelioration in the functional capacity of the patients. It seems that RV volume measurement by CMR is helpful for determining optimal timing for TR surgery.