Objective Our goal was to evaluate upper eyelid laxity by digital distraction, with the aim to determine sleeping laterality and the likelihood of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), and correlate these findings with polysomnography (PSG). Design We conducted a prospective, single-centre multidisciplinary study in a large sleep and respiratory department and an ophthalmology department within a tertiary referral university teaching hospital. Methods Patients with known OSA were evaluated using techniques based on the Lateralising Eyelid Sleep Compression (LESC) study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe diagnosis of renal Tuberculosis (TB) can be hypothesized in the setting of non-specific bacterial cystitis associated with a therapeutic failure or a urinalysis with a persistent leukocyturia and absence of bacteriuria. Renal TB is an important cause of kidney disease, mainly in tropical areas of the globe, which can lead to end-stage renal disease if not diagnosed early and treated correctly. We report a case of a 58 year man with a past history of pulmonary TB treated for six months with extensive nephroureteric calcification presenting with renal failure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPercutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) has been an excellent option for the management of kidney stones. There have been many complications in regards to solid organ injury during PCNL. Here we discuss an interesting case of 45-year-old woman, who underwent PCNL for right renal staghorn calculus, and had an accidental puncture of the gall bladder.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Mirtazapine is an a2A antagonist and mixed 5-HT2/5-HT3 antagonist that has been proposed as a potential treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A small, randomized, controlled trial has previously found an approximate halving in the severity of OSA with daily doses of 4.5 and 15 mg.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral driving simulators have been developed which range in complexity from PC based driving tasks to advanced "real world" simulators. The AusEd driving simulator is a PC based task, which was designed to be conducive to and test for driver fatigue. This paper describes the AusEd driving simulator in detail, including the technical requirements, hardware, screen and file outputs, and analysis software.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objectives: Sleep deprivation, time of day (circadian influences), and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) all reduce performance and neurobehavioral function. We assessed the interactive effect of sleep deprivation and time of day on performance and neurobehavioral function in subjects with and without mild OSA.
Methods: This was a cross-over study in which 13 subjects with mild OSA and 16 subjects without OSA had performance and neurobehavioral testing after a normal night's sleep and after a night of supervised sleep deprivation.
Sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and restless legs syndrome (RLS), are very common. The relative importance of genetic and nongenetic (environmental) influences on the symptomatology of these conditions has not been well studied. This study uses the twin design to examine this by evaluating OSA and RLS symptoms in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Respir Crit Care Med
November 2004
Sleep-disordered breathing and excessive sleepiness may be more common in commercial vehicle drivers than in the general population. The relative importance of factors causing excessive sleepiness and accidents in this population remains unclear. We measured the prevalence of excessive sleepiness and sleep-disordered breathing and assessed accident risk factors in 2,342 respondents to a questionnaire distributed to a random sample of 3,268 Australian commercial vehicle drivers and another 161 drivers among 244 invited to undergo polysomnography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objectives: Sleep deprivation is believed to worsen obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We assessed the effect of acute sleep deprivation on polysomnography in a cohort of subjects with mild OSA and a cohort of subjects without OSA.
Design: Crossover study in which subjects initially had polysomnography after a normal night's sleep or after 36 hours of sleep deprivation, followed by a 2- to 4-week interval, after which subjects were restudied under the alternate testing condition.
Obstructive sleep apnoea is associated with an increased risk of sleep-related motor vehicle accidents. Seven recent legal cases of fatal motor vehicle accidents on NSW roads are presented, where the driver who caused the accident was suffering from an unrecognised or under-treated sleep disorder. The legal outcomes in these cases were variable: some of the drivers have been acquitted and others have been jailed.
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