La sindrome delle Apnee Ostruttive del Sonno (OSAS): Metodiche diagnostiche e trattamento ortodontico

Aim: OSAS can increase the risk of about half of the people who have sleep apnea also have high blood pressure Sleep apnea also is linked to metabolic syndrome; diabetes; risk factors for stroke and heart failure; traffic and working accident. Materials and methods: The study included 20 patients (12 males and 8 females). They were diagnosed with OSAS using polysomnography (PSG). Some criteria has been applied to diagnose OSAS: an apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) of >5 per hour during sleep pathological daytime sleepiness; the therapeutic effect of oral appliance was evaluated by using PSG and when it showed an AHI of <10 or a decrease of >50%. Two types of OA were applied: Mandibular Advancement Device (12); Twin Block Appliance (8). These enlarged the upper airways by holding the mandible forward, at the 60-70% of the maximum mandible advancement and at the minimum vertical position. A CBCT was performed in all the patients. Results: The mean upper airways’ 3D volumetric reconstructions increased significantly during the presence of OA versus the absence of OA (p<0.01), AHI diminished significantly during the presence of OA (p<0.01). Conclusion: Obstructive Sleep apnea have high prevalence rate, the main Challenge in sleep apnea is not the treatment but it is the diagnosis. If you treat patient with sleep apnea acutely you will give him better quality of life. Oral therapy is effective for treating mild and mild to moderate OSA, CBCT is useful to detect morphological changes of upper airways, by a 3D evaluation analysis during oral devices’ use. The advantages of a 3D evaluation of the upper airway during OA therapy: the accurate visual confirmation of morphological changes in each region of the upper airway; it could increase the compliance and motivation of the patients for the treatment.