Benefit of adjunctive transoral neuromuscular electrical stimulation with positive airway pressure therapy: a case report.

Unlabelled: Combination positive airway pressure therapy and daytime transoral neuromuscular electrical stimulation in the treatment of sleep apnea has not been reported in the literature. We present a case of a patient with poorly controlled sleep apnea despite bilevel positive airway pressure. Adjunctive therapy with daytime neuromuscular electrical stimulation resulted in dramatic reduction of the apnea-hypopnea index with significant improvement in patient's symptoms.

A Feasibility Study: Testing Whether a Sleep Application Providing Objective Sleep Data to Physicians Improves Patient-Physician Communication Regarding Sleep Experiences, Habits, and Behaviors.

Introduction: Sleep tracker data have not been utilized routinely in sleep-related disorders and their management. Sleep-related disorders are common in primary care practice and incorporating sleep tracker data may help in improving patient care. We conducted a pilot study to assess the feasibility of a sleep program using the Fitbit Charge 2™ device and SleepLife application.

Hospital outcomes in non-surgical patients identified at risk for OSA.

Background: In-hospital respiratory outcomes of non-surgical patients with undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), particularly those with significant comorbidities are not well defined. Undiagnosed and untreated OSA may be associated with increased cardiopulmonary morbidity.

Study Objectives: Evaluate respiratory failure outcomes in patients identified as at-risk for OSA by the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ).

Psychiatric symptoms and their association with sleep disturbances in intensive care unit survivors.

Background: Sleep disturbances in critically ill patients are associated with poorer long-term clinical outcomes and quality of life. Studies are needed to better characterize associations and risk factors for persistent sleep disturbances after intensive care unit (ICU) discharge. Psychiatric disorders are frequently associated with sleep disturbances, but the role of psychiatric symptoms in sleep disturbances in ICU survivors has not been well-studied.

Preoperative STOP-BANG Scores and Postoperative Delirium and Coma in Thoracic Surgery Patients.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with higher rates of postoperative delirium. The relationship between preoperative OSA risk and postoperative delirium and coma in thoracic surgery patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) is not well understood. This study tests the hypothesis that thoracic surgery patients hospitalized in ICU with a higher preoperative risk for OSA are more likely to develop postoperative delirium and coma, resulting in longer hospital stays.

Effect of cigarette smoke exposure and structural modifications on the α-1 Antitrypsin interaction with caspases.

α-1 Antitrypsin (A1AT) is a serpin with a major protective effect against cigarette smoke-induced emphysema development, and patients with mutations of the A1AT gene display a markedly increased risk for developing emphysema. We reported that A1AT protects lung endothelial cells from apoptosis and inhibits caspase-3 activity. It is not clear if cigarette smoking or A1AT mutations alter the caspase-3 inhibitory activity of A1AT and if this serpin alters the function of other caspases.

Lung endothelial monocyte-activating protein 2 is a mediator of cigarette smoke-induced emphysema in mice.

Pulmonary emphysema is a disease characterized by alveolar cellular loss and inflammation. Recently, excessive apoptosis of structural alveolar cells has emerged as a major mechanism in the development of emphysema. Here, we investigated the proapoptotic and monocyte chemoattractant cytokine endothelial monocyte-activating protein 2 (EMAPII).