March 2011

Nominate a Fellow Section Member for Our Specialty Practitioner of the Year Award
Every year we honor one of our own with a Specialty Practitioner of the Year award at the AARC International Respiratory Congress. Since this year’s Congress will take place a month earlier than usual (it’s Nov. 5–8, in Tampa, FL), we need to begin gathering nominations for our 2011 award now. Take a few moments to brainstorm deserving candidates, then visit the section website to fill out our ONLINE NOMINATION FORM.

ATS Report Calls for Research on Ambulatory Management of OSA
The American Thoracic Society has issued a new report aimed at fostering research on the ambulatory management of adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), including portable sleep testing. The recommendations are based on the proceedings and recommendations from an international workshop sponsored by the ATS, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the European Respiratory Society. “As physicians in family practice and otolaryngology join pulmonologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists to specialize in sleep medicine, the desire to test populations outside of the sleep center will grow,” Workshop Chair Samuel Kuna, MD, was quoted as saying. “High-quality research will be needed to guide the systematic development of these alternative clinical disease management pathways.” READ PRESS RELEASE

Study Sheds Light on Why Patients Stop Using PAP Therapy
German researchers publishing ahead of print in Respiration on Mar. 4 find several factors influence long-term adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment. They contacted 303 patients who were prescribed PAP therapy for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) by telephone about a year after the initial prescription, finding 63% were still using the PAP device and 27.4% had definitively discontinued use. About a third of the nonusers had stopped using the device in the first three months. Analysis showed patients with a low apnea/hypopnea index and Epworth Sleepiness Scale score were more likely to discontinue use. Patients with no comorbid conditions or with two or more comorbid conditions were more likely to be nonusers as well. The authors believe these findings suggest a need for educational sessions and closer long-term follow up to improve treatment compliance. READ ABSTRAST

Indications for PSG in Children
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has approved new pediatric polysomnography (PSG) practice parameters for children with suspected sleep related breathing disorders (SRBD). The report includes 15 recommendations on indications for PSG, along with two recommendations on contraindications. The usefulness of PSG is cited in a wide range of conditions, diseases, and situations, including neuromuscular diseases, following adenotonsillectomy, in infants who have experienced an apparent life-threatening event, and in children treated with an oral appliance, with a tracheostomy for SRBD, or who are on mechanical ventilation. The report appears in this month’s Sleep. READ ABSTRACT

OSA Doesn’t Significantly Affect Neurocognitive Performance
New results from the Apnea Positive Pressure Long-term Efficacy Study, also know as “APPLES,” suggest OSA has only a small impact on neurocognitive performance in the majority of patients. Researchers analyzed data collected at baseline on 1204 adults with OSA before they were randomized to either CPAP or sham CPAP. After adjusting their findings for level of education, ethnicity, and gender, no association was seen between the apnea/hypopnea index and neurocognitive performance, although the severity of oxygen desaturation was weakly linked to worse performance on some measures of intelligence, attention, and processing speed. The study appears in this month’s Sleep. READ ABSTRACT