Detection of sleep apnea by case-finding and home monitoring with Somnolter®: a pilot study

Abstract

BackgroundObstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a disorder that causes clinical symptoms (e.g. snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness and impaired concentration) that may increase the risk of traffic accidents, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and reduce the quality of life. A recently developed device (Somnolter®) detects apneas and hypopneas in a home setting, allowing to detect OSAHS in a more comfortable environment compared to the gold standard polysomnography. The aim of our study was to investigate whether the Somnolter® is useful in family practice to identify patients with OSAHS.MethodsQuestionnaires were offered to patients in five general practitioner (GP) practices.Based on the questionnaire and body mass index, patients with an increased risk of OSAHS were contacted to collaborate in the study. In this convenience sample, 18 patients were successfully tested with the Somnolter® measuring SaO2, mandibular movements, body position, heart rate, nasal air flow and thoracic and abdominal breathing movements. The Somnolter® automatically analyses the data and different parameters to detect OSAHS. Afterwards, the data were manually revised by the researchers.ResultsOut of 365 subjects, 31 met the inclusion criteria and 18 were successfully tested at home. Sixteen out of 18 patients had an Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) ≥ 5, ten of them had mild OSAHS, 3 were categorized as moderate OSAHS and finally 3 matched the criteria of severe OSAHS.ConclusionThe proposed case-finding strategy still needs optimization, but is considered helpful in selecting patients at high risk of OSAHS. OSAHS was detected in 14 out of 18 patients tested with the Somnolter®. In the future the Somnolter® might be a feasible alternative to diagnose OSAHS.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-616) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Lateral pharyngeal wall collapse associated with hypoxemia in obstructive sleep apnea

“…Among 64 patients, two received home sleep tests; however, in both, all variables involved were reported. Previous studies suggest that there is good agreement between respiratory variables on home sleep tests and standard PSG . Due to the subjective nature of DISE, it may be inherently prone to inconsistencies; however, previous studies have reported acceptable consistency for DISE.…”

“…Previous studies suggest that there is good agreement between respiratory variables on home sleep tests and standard PSG. [28][29][30][31] Due to the subjective nature of DISE, it may be inherently prone to inconsistencies; however, previous studies have reported acceptable consistency for DISE. Kezirian et al found that the inter-rater reliability of DISE is moderate to substantial.…”

The prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in Northwest Russia: The ARKHsleep study

“…To define the presence of SDB, we used the Somnolter® ambulatory monitor (Nomics, Belgium), which is a portable home-monitoring device used to assess the presence of different clinical types of sleep-related breathing disorders via the measurement of oxygen saturation, mandibular movements, body position, heart rate, nasal airflow, and thoracic and abdominal breathing movements. 23 The Somnolter® device has software that provides rapid and high-performance display and scoring with manual or automatic analysis. The automatic analysis detects all abnormal respiratory events: apneas, hypopneas, upper-airway resistance, and abnormal respiratory effort, as defined by the 2012 version of the AASM guidelines.…”

Synchronized mandibular movement and capnography: a novel approach to obstructive airway detection during procedural sedation—a post hoc analysis of a prospective study

“…The Brizzy mandibular movement analysis system (Nomics, Belgium) provides a sinusoidal Jaw Activity (JAWAC) signal that corresponds to respiratory effort [6,7]. During airway obstruction, increased respiratory effort appears with increasing flow limitation.…”