Predicting upper airway collapse sites found in drug-induced sleep endoscopy from clinical data and snoring sounds in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a prospective clinical study.

Study Objectives: The primary aim was to predict upper airway collapse sites found in drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) from demographic, anthropometric, clinical examination, sleep study, and snoring sound parameters in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The secondary aim was to identify the above-mentioned parameters that are associated with complete concentric collapse of the soft palate.

Methods: All patients with OSA who underwent DISE and simultaneous snoring sound recording were enrolled in this study. Demographic, anthropometric, clinical examination (viz., modified Mallampati classification and Friedman tonsil classification), and sleep study parameters were extracted from the polysomnography and DISE reports. Snoring sound parameters during DISE were calculated.

Results: One hundred and nineteen patients with OSA (79.8% men; age = 48.1 ± 12.4 years) were included. Increased body mass index was found to be associated with higher probability of oropharyngeal collapse ( < .01; odds ratio = 1.29). Patients with a high Friedman tonsil score were less likely to have tongue base collapse ( < .01; odd ratio = 0.12) and epiglottic collapse ( = .01; odds ratio = 0.20) than those with a low score. A longer duration of snoring events ( = .05; odds ratio = 2.99) was associated with a higher probability of complete concentric collapse of the soft palate.

Conclusions: Within the current patient profile and approach, given that only a limited number of predictors were identified, it does not seem feasible to predict upper airway collapse sites found in DISE from demographic, anthropometric, clinical examination, sleep study, and snoring sound parameters in patients with OSA.

Citation: Huang Z, Bosschieter PFN, Aarab G, et al. Predicting upper airway collapse sites found in drug-induced sleep endoscopy from clinical data and snoring sounds in obstructive sleep apnea patients: a prospective clinical study. . 2022;18(9):2119-2131.