BACKGROUND Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder and is characterized by airway collapse at multiple levels of upper airway. The effectiveness of nasal surgery has been discussed in several studies and shows a promising growing interest. In this study, we intended to evaluate the effects of nasal surgery on the upper airway dimensions in patients with OSA using three-dimensio...

Introduction: Hypertrophied tonsils and adenoids may cause upper airway obstruction and cardio-pulmonary complications due to pulmonary arterial hypertension. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) and selected adenotonsilar hypertrophy indexes. Materials and Methods: Thirty two patients with upper-airway obstruction resulting ...

©International Anesthesia Research Society. Unauthorized Use Prohibited. INTRODUCTION Upper airway patency is essential for normal respiratory function. The maintenance of a patent airway is dependent primarily on the pharyngeal structures. In some individuals, there is a loss of this airway patency from collapse of pharyngeal soft tissue, and interruption of airflow occurs during sleep. Obstru...

BACKGROUND Laryngospasm is the most frequently reported respiratory complication associated with upper respiratory infection and general anesthesia in retrospective studies, but prospective studies have failed to demonstrate any increase in risk. METHODS A case-control study was performed to examine whether children with laryngospasm were more likely to have an upper respiratory infection on ...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES While upper airway obstruction is a common problem in the pediatric population, the first-line treatment, adenotonsillectomy, fails in up to 20% of patients. The decision to proceed to surgery is often made without quantitative anatomic guidance. We evaluated the use of a novel technique, long-range optical coherence tomography (LR-OCT), to image the upper airway of childr...

BACKGROUND Knowledge regarding normal upper airway anatomy is essential for airway management and is required to prevent malpositioning of endotracheal tubes. We evaluated the length of the upper airway in Korean children and adults who had no abnormality of the upper airway using a fiberoptic bronchoscope. METHODS Eighty seven patients aged 5 to 81 years undergoing noninvasive elective surge...

It is now well accepted that disproportionate anatomy of the upper airway exists in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which leads to obstruction during sleep [1–3]. Recognizing that most patients with OSA have more than one site of obstruction in the upper airway, modern surgical approach for the treatment of OSA focuses onmultiple sites in the upper airway, including the nose, palate (pharynx), a...

BACKGROUND Therapeutic bronchoscopy is used for endobronchial staging of lung cancer and symptomatic relief of central airway obstruction or postobstructive pneumonia. The aim of this study was to assess the utility of therapeutic bronchoscopy as a complementary tool in the combined bronchoscopic and surgical management of malignant airway lesions before curative lung surgery. METHODS Seventy...