Sleep disturbance is common in critically ill patients up to 12 months after hospital discharge. Both subjective and objective studies, however, suggest that sleep disturbance improves over time. More research is needed to understand and optimize sleep in recovery from critical illness.

ObjectiveTo provide an overview of the healthcare and societal consequences and costs of untreated obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.Data sourcesPubMed database for English-language studies with no start date restrictions and with an end date of September 2014.MethodsA comprehensive literature review was performed to identify all studies that discussed the physiologic, clinical and societal consequences of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome as well as the costs associated with these consequences. There were 106 studies that formed the basis of this analysis.ConclusionsUndiagnosed and untreated obstructive sleep apnea syndrome can lead to abnormal physiology that can have serious implications including increased cardiovascular disease, stroke, metabolic disease, excessive daytime sleepiness, work-place errors, traffic accidents and death. These consequences result in significant economic burden. Both, the health and societal consequences and their costs can be decreased with identification and treatment of sleep apnea.Implications for practiceTreatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, despite its consequences, is limited by lack of diagnosis, poor patient acceptance, lack of access to effective therapies, and lack of a variety of effective therapies. Newer modes of therapy that are effective, cost efficient and more accepted by patients need to be developed.

Background Multiple factors are believed to contribute to disruption of patients’ sleep and negatively affect clinical outcomes in the intensive care unit. Achieving restorative sleep for critically ill patients remains a challenge. Objectives To explore the perceptions and beliefs of staff, patients, and surrogates regarding the environmental and nonenvironmental factors in the medical intensive care unit that affect patients’ sleep. Methods This qualitative study included 24 medical intensive care unit staff (7 physicians, 5 respiratory therapists, 10 nurses, and 2 patient-care assistants), 8 patients, and 6 patient surrogates. Semistructured interviews were conducted, and qualitative analysis of content was used to code, categorize, and identify interview themes. Results Interview responses revealed 4 themes with related subthemes: (1) The overnight medical intensive care unit environment does affect sleep, (2) nonenvironmental factors such as difficult emotions and anxiety also affect sleep, (3) respondents’ erceptions about sleep quality in the medical intensive care unit were highly variable, and (4) suggestions for sleep improvement included reassuring patients and care-clustering strategies. Conclusions Results of this study suggest that environment is not the only factor influencing patients’ sleep. Decreases in environmental sources of disturbance are necessary but not sufficient for sleep improvement. Guideline-recommended clustered care is needed to provide adequate sleep opportunity, but patients’ emotions and anxiety also must be addressed.

Objectives To evaluate the feasibility of using unattended, portable polysomnography (PSG) to measure sleep among patients in the medical intensive care unit (MICU). Background Accurate measurement of sleep is critical to studies of MICU sleep deprivation. Although PSG is the gold standard, there is limited data regarding the feasibility of utilizing unattended, portable PSG modalities in the MICU. Methods MICU based observational pilot study. We conducted unattended, 24-hour PSG studies in 29 patients. Indicators of feasibility included attainment of electroencephalography data sufficient to determine sleep stages, sleep efficiency, and arousal indices. Results Electroencephalography data were not affected by electrical interference and were of interpretable quality in 27/29 (93%) of these patients. Overnight sleep efficiency was 48% reflecting a mean overnight sleep duration of 3.7 hours. Conclusions Unattended, portable PSG produces high quality sleep data in the MICU and can facilitate investigation of sleep deprivation among critically ill patients. Patient sleep was short and highly fragmented.

Sequence-specificity is the key to effective genetic targeting. With specificity, targeted genes can be manipulated in multiple ways; without it, gene therapy agents become loose canons within cells. Triplex forming oligonucleotides (TFOs) bind in the major groove of duplex DNA with high specificity and affinity. Because of these characteristics, TFOs have been proposed as homing devices for genetic manipulation in vivo. Here we review work demonstrating the ability of TFOs and related molecules to alter gene expression and mediate genome modification in mammalian cells. Recent studies have established that TFOs can mediate targeted gene knock out in mice, laying the foundation for the potential application of these molecules in human gene therapy.