Length of Individual Apnea Events Is Increased by Supine Position and Modulated by Severity of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Positional obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common among OSA patients. In severe OSA, the obstruction events are longer in supine compared to nonsupine positions. Corresponding scientific information on mild and moderate OSA is lacking.

RemLogic plug-in enables clinical application of apnea-hypopnea index adjusted for severity of individual obstruction events.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is diagnosed based on obstruction event incidence, albeit individual obstruction event severity is connected to increased mortality rate. Adjusted-AHI parameter, incorporating number and severity of obstruction events, has shown good potential, but is calculated using custom-made MATLAB(®) functions. To allow its clinical use, this study introduces the RemLogic™ plug-in.

Effect of oxygen desaturation threshold on determination of OSA severity during weight loss.

Purpose: Weight loss leads to improvement of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), based on frequency of respiratory events (apnea-hypopnea index, AHI). However, AHI does not incorporate the severity of individual obstruction events. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests two alternative oxygen desaturation thresholds (ODT) for scoring of hypopneas.

Amount of weight loss or gain influences the severity of respiratory events in sleep apnea.

Severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is estimated based on respiratory events per hour [i.e., apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)].

Effect of different oxygen desaturation threshold levels on hypopnea scoring and classification of severity of sleep apnea.

Purpose: Recently, there has been a debate about the rules used to score hypopnea events. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different oxygen desaturation threshold (ODT) levels on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and on a recently introduced parameter, adjusted AHI. Adjusted AHI incorporates the severity of individual breathing cessation events.

Morbidity and mortality risk ratios are elevated in severe supine dominant OSA: a long-term follow-up study.

Purpose: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common public health problem. Sleeping position dependency has been related to OSA, and around half of OSA patients suffer from positional OSA where majority of the respiratory events occur in supine position. The consequences of supine dominant OSA have not been thoroughly investigated in long-term follow-up studies.

Weight loss alters severity of individual nocturnal respiratory events depending on sleeping position.

Weight loss is an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The mechanisms of how weight loss affects nocturnal breathing are not fully understood. The severity of OSA is currently estimated by the number of respiratory events per hour of sleep (i.

Adjustment of apnea-hypopnea index with severity of obstruction events enhances detection of sleep apnea patients with the highest risk of severe health consequences.

Introduction: Presently, the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is estimated based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Unfortunately, AHI does not provide information on the severity of individual obstruction events. Previously, the severity of individual obstruction events has been suggested to be related to the outcome of the disease.

Divergent coverage, frequency and costs of organised and opportunistic Pap testing in Finland.

We evaluated the overall coverage, frequency and costs of Pap testing by screening modality and health care provider in Finland. Information about Pap testing in the Finnish female population of 2.7 million was obtained from nationwide population-based registry data.

Impact of vaccination on 14 high-risk HPV type infections: a mathematical modelling approach.

The development of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection to cervical cancer is a complicated process. We considered solely hrHPV infections, thus avoiding the confounding effects of disease progression, screening, and treatments. To analyse hrHPV epidemiology and to estimate the overall impact of vaccination against infections with hrHPVs, we developed a dynamic compartmental transmission model for single and multiple infections with 14 hrHPV types.

Novel parameters reflect changes in morphology of respiratory events during weight loss.

Apnea-hypopnea-index (AHI), disregarding the respiratory event morphology, is currently used in estimation of severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the potential of novel parameters in estimation of changes in severity of OSA during weight loss. Polygraphic data of 67 patients, 37 in the control (no weight loss) and 30 in the weight loss (>5%) groups was evaluated at baseline and after two year follow-up.

The severity of individual obstruction events is related to increased mortality rate in severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is linked to an increased mortality rate. However, the severity of individual obstruction events is rarely considered quantitatively in clinical practice. We hypothesized that OSA with especially severe obstruction events would predispose a patient to greater health risks than OSA with a similar apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), but lower severity of individual events.

Repetition suppression in the cortical motor and auditory systems resemble each other--a combined TMS and evoked potential study.

Repetition suppression (RS) in cortical sensory systems optimizes the size of neuronal ensemble reacting to repetitive stimuli such as sounds. Recently RS has also been demonstrated to occur with mental imaging of movement. We studied the existence of RS in the motor system using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

The burden and costs of prevention and management of genital disease caused by HPV in women: a population-based registry study in Finland.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the total burden and health care provider costs of prevention, management and treatment of HP-related genital disease outcomes including all organized and opportunistic screening tests. Information about HPV-related disease outcomes in the Finnish female population of 2.7 million was obtained from nationwide population-based registry data.

Novel parameters indicate significant differences in severity of obstructive sleep apnea with patients having similar apnea-hypopnea index.

Sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) causes impairment of daytime functions and increases risk of cardiovascular diseases. Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), currently used for the estimation of the severity of SAHS, does not contain information on the morphology or duration aspects of the breathing cessations and related oxygen desaturations. Longer breathing cessations and deeper desaturations may have more severe consequences than shorter and shallower ones.

Mortality in middle-aged men with obstructive sleep apnea in Finland.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with an elevated rate of cardiovascular mortality. However, this issue has not been investigated in patients with elevated proneness to cardiovascular diseases. Our hypothesis was that OSA would have an especially adverse effect on the risk of cardiovascular mortality in Finnish individuals exhibiting elevated proneness for coronary heart diseases.

Novel parameters for evaluating severity of sleep disordered breathing and for supporting diagnosis of sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.

Sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) is a complex public health problem causing increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Traditionally, evaluation of the severity of the disease is based on Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI). It is defined as the average number of apnea and hypopnea events per hour during sleep.

First year experience of rotavirus immunisation programme in Finland.

Introduction: This study aimed to estimate the impact of rotavirus (RV) immunisation programme on the total hospital treated acute gastroenteritis (AGE) burden, as well as, on severe RV disease burden in Finland during the first year after immunisation programme introduction. Such studies can also be considered as a vaccine-probe-study, where unspecific disease burden prevented by immunisation is assumed to be caused by the agent the vaccine is targeted against.

Methods: The RV related outcome definitions were based on data registered in the National Hospital Discharge Register coded using ICD 10 codes.

Total duration of apnea and hypopnea events and average desaturation show significant variation in patients with a similar apnea-hypopnea index.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is commonly diagnosed based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Presently, novel indices were introduced for sleep apnea severity: total duration of sleep apnea and hypopnea events (TAHD%) and a combined index including duration and severity of the events (TAHD% × average desaturation). Two hundred and sixty-seven subjects were divided based on their AHI into four categories (normal, mild, moderate, severe OSA).

Accuracy of automatic analysis of ambulatory recordings of nocturnal breathing disorders is significantly instrumentation dependent.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is generally diagnosed with ambulatory recordings. Although reliability of automated analysis has been investigated, suitability of one single analysis software for use with different devices is unclear. Here, validity of automatic analysis of recordings with two ambulatory devices and reliability of automatic analysis in detection of mixed and central apnoeas are investigated through 100 and 167 recordings with Venla and Embletta devices, respectively.

Evaluation of a novel ambulatory device for screening of sleep apnea.

The gold standard for diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the sleep laboratory polysomnography, which is technically demanding, labor-intensive, and time-consuming. Thus, screening of large undiagnosed population for OSA may be cost efficient only by means of ambulatory devices suitable for home recordings. The aim of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic and technical reliability of a novel ambulatory device (APV2, Remote Analysis Oy) introduced for sleep apnea diagnostics.

Design, construction and evaluation of an ambulatory device for screening of sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a major public health problem. The golden reference for diagnosing OSAS is the sleep-laboratory based polysomnography (PSG). However, screening of population for OSAS may be practical and cost efficient only through ambulatory home recordings.

A portable device for intensive care brain function monitoring with event-related potentials.

Monitoring level of consciousness or depth of sedation is essential in modern intensive care units and emergency rooms. Current methods are based on spontaneous EEG providing only indirect information on the reactivity of the brain. Measurement of auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) has been shown to have additional potential for evaluation of the level of consciousness.

Efficient reduction of stimulus artefact in TMS-EEG by epithelial short-circuiting by mini-punctures.

Objective: We aimed at comparing the effects of two different electrode-to-skin contact preparation techniques on the stimulus artefact induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in electroencephalography (EEG) signals.

Methods: Six healthy subjects participated in a combined navigated brain stimulation (NBS) and EEG study. Electrode contacts were first prepared in the standard way of rubbing the skin using a wooden stick with a cotton tip.

Starch acetate--a novel film-forming polymer for pharmaceutical coatings.

Starch acetates (SA) have been investigated as novel, multifunctional excipients for the direct compression tableting process. In this study, the film-forming ability of SA (DS 2.8) and the effect of commonly used plasticizers on the physical properties of SA films were evaluated.