Vol.95 No.2 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 95 No. 2 February 2002
The Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment of Sleep Apnea Syndrome
Nobuo Usui (Toho University)
Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a serious disorder that occurs at a high incidence. Until 30 years ago, snoring was considered harmless to the individual, and only a social problem in its annoyance to others. However, since it was reported that snoring is the most common symptom associated with SAS, and that severe snoring and SAS, especially obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), have effects on the morbidity and mortality of patients with cardiovascular disease, snoring and SAS have attracted a great deal of attention. In 1981, Fujita et al. reported a method of treating snoring and SAS by uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP). However, the rate of improvement by UPPP remained at about 50% which caused misunderstanding of the role of surgery in OSAS. In 1981, Sulliven et al. reported the use of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP), and this brought about a marked change in the concept of OSAS treatment. There is currently controversy about the diagnosis and treatment of OSAS, specifically, who should diagnose and treat the disorder, how to treat it, and how assess the effects of treatment. Therefore, we reviewed our data on the diagnosis and treatment of OSAS, including several problems relating to surgical treatment.
Key words : sleep apnea syndrome(SAS), obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS), uvulopalatopharyngoplasty(UPPP)