Cost-effectiveness strategies in OSAS management: a short review.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSAS) is an underdiagnosed chronic disease with a high prevalence in adults. It is becoming a significant social problem, since it is associated with a worsening in quality of life and increase in mortality. The cost-effectiveness ratio of diagnostic and therapeutic management of OSAS is a strategic issue to counteract the expected increasing demand of objective testing. OSAS patients with any clinical evidence of comorbidities must be studied using simplified and less expensive systems such as Home Sleep Testing (HST). On the other hand, Sleep Laboratory Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard to manage OSAS patients with comorbidities. It should be pointed out that the use of HST can lead to incorrect diagnosis in poorly selected OSAS subjects. This short review discusses various topics for the proper diagnosis and treatment of OSAS in view of epidemiological factors and results in terms of costs and social benefit of the disease. Whatever the strategy chosen and/or the organisational model adopted for managing OSAS, it cannot and should not take into account only cost-effectiveness. Long-term prospective studies evaluating cost-effectiveness ratios and outcomes of OSAS treatment of hospital management models versus home care models are needed.

Surgery-first: a new approach to orthognathic surgery.

This case study describes the treatment of a 20-year-old white woman with a skeletal Class III and dental Class III malocclusion followed by a retrognathic and contracted maxilla, light mandibular crowding and a median line deviation of 5 mm. The treatment was based on the Surgery-First approach, involving LeFort I maxillary advancement surgery, and it was followed by orthodontic treatment. During the 6-month treatment period, excellent aesthetic results and good functional occlusion were achieved.

Treatment of class ii in adulthood by forsus frd device.

OBJECTIVES: Scientific research data show that the Forsus FRD seems to have a great potential in the correction of Class II in childhood. The conclusions reached by the various Authors seem to support the hypothesis of an exclusively or mainly dentoalveolar correction, as the skeletal correction seems to have no - or little - appreciable results. In the light of such provided by different Authors, the potential of dentoalveolar compensation in adult patients with mild skeletal class II was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At the UOC (Complex Operative Unit) of Orthodontics at "G. Eastman" Hospital Rome, 3 cases of skeletal class II mild (ANB <5 °) in adult patients were selected. They were treated with fixed multibracket appliance and Forsus EZ2 module. Cephalometric tracings were compared at the beginning and at the end of the treatment in order to assess the skeletal and dentoalveolar changes. RESULTS: The occlusal correction was achieved through a dentoalveolar compensation characterized by the flaring of the lower teeth. CONCLUSIONS: Forsus FRD equipment is an excellent compromise for the correction of mild Class II, even during the post development age. The resulting correction is appreciated at dental alveolar level with a mesial movement of the incisors and molars.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: a new paradigm by chronic nocturnal intermittent hypoxia and sleep disruption.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with severe cerebro-cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. It is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis, arterial thrombosis and metabolic syndrome, and recently has been associated with an increased incidence of cancer and death. A causal link between OSAS and atherosclerosis has been partially established. Recent research on atherosclerosis in OSAS has focused on thrombotic tendency and blood viscosity, providing new insight into disease mechanisms. Hypoxia is a critical pathophysiological element in OSAS that leads to intensive sympathetic activity, in association with inflammation, oxidative stress and procoagulant activity. Hypoxia and the induction of oxidative stress can simultaneously represent an underlying mechanism in the pathogenesis of cancer development and progression. This mini-review will discuss the latest findings on the association and potential relationship between OSA and pathological vascular sequelae.

Effect of the daily ingestion of a purified anthocyanin extract from grape skin on rat serum antioxidant capacity.

The aim of this work was to study the effect of the daily ingestion of a purified anthocyanin extract from red grape skin on rat serum antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and its safety for the intestinal epithelium. The study was carried out in rats orally administered with the extract for 10 days in either normal physiological conditions or exposed to a pro-oxidant chemical (CCl(4)). The oral administration of the extract significantly (P<0.05) enhanced the ORAC value of the deproteinised serum of about 50 % after 10 days of ingestion. Anthocyanin administration was also able to reverse completely the decrease in the serum ORAC activity induced by the CCl(4) treatment. Experiments with Ussing chamber mounted intestine allowed to exclude any toxicity of the extract for the intestinal epithelium. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the purified anthocyanin extract from red grape skin enhances the total antioxidant capacity of the serum in either normal physiological condition or during oxidative stress induction, revealing a protective role against the decrease in the serum antioxidant capacity induced by a pro-oxidant compound.

Hypotonicity induced K+ and anion conductive pathways activation in eel intestinal epithelium.

Control of cell volume is a fundamental and highly conserved physiological mechanism, essential for survival under varying environmental and metabolic conditions. Epithelia (such as intestine, renal tubule, gallbladder and gills) are tissues physiologically exposed to osmotic stress. Therefore, the activation of 'emergency' systems of rapid cell volume regulation is fundamental in their physiology. The aim of the present work was to study the physiological response to hypotonic stress in a salt-transporting epithelium, the intestine of the euryhaline teleost Anguilla anguilla. Eel intestinal epithelium, when symmetrically bathed with Ringer solution, develops a net Cl- current giving rise to a negative transepithelial potential at the basolateral side of the epithelium. The eel intestinal epithelium responded to a hypotonic challenge with a biphasic decrease in the transepithelial voltage (V(te)) and the short circuit current (I(sc)). This electrophysiological response correlated with a regulatory volume decrease (RVD) response, recorded by morphometrical measurement of the epithelium height. Changes in the transepithelial resistance were also observed following the hypotonicity exposure. The electrogenic V(te) and I(sc) responses to hypotonicity resulted from the activation of different K+ and anion conductive pathways on the apical and basolateral membranes of the epithelium: (a) iberiotoxin-sensitive K+ channels on the apical and basolateral membrane, (b) apamin-sensitive K+ channels mainly on the basolateral membrane, (c) DIDS-sensitive anion channels on the apical membrane. The functional integrity of the basal Cl- conductive pathway on the basolateral membrane is also required. The electrophysiological response to hypotonic stress was completely abolished by Ca2+ removal from the Ringer perfusing solution, but was not affected by depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores by thapsigargin.