Adenotonsillectomy in children may be performed safely on an outpatient basis in the majority of cases without an increase in complication rates. However, very young children comprise a unique patient subpopulation with regard to adenotonsillar surgery. Surgical indications in older children tend to be dominated by chronic recurrent infections, whereas younger children usually require surgery f...

A method for quantitative measurement of air volume changes in upper airway is presented in this paper. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of a state-of-the-art Cone Beam Computerized Tomography (CBCT) technique for quantitative measurement of volume in upper airway. Our application is defining and tracking minute volume changes (a few milliliters) of upper airways caused by sur...

Anesthetic, sedative, and analgesic drugs have been shown in animals and humans to selectively impair upper airway muscle activity. In patients with an already compromised upper airway, these drugs may further jeopardize upper airway patency, especially during sleep. Thus, patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) are at high risk for surgery because of the use of the aforementioned...

A 42-yr-old male with Hunter's syndrome presented with severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) and daytime respiratory failure. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy was initially ineffective and produced acute respiratory distress. Extensive Hunter's disease infiltration of the upper airway with a myxoma was confirmed. Following surgery to remove the myxoma at the level of...

To evaluate the effects of current supportive care measures for the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) upon the upper airway, we studied 30 survivors of ARDS. All patients were interviewed and examined and performed inspiratory and expiratory maximal flow-volume curves more than six months after the onset of ARDS. Three women had developed symptomatic upper airway obstruction due to lar...