Scientific publications
Non-acid reflux and sleep apnea: the importance of drug induced sleep endoscopy. Scientific Publication
Carlos O'Connor-Reina 1 2 , Jose Maria Ignacio Garcia 3 4 , Peter Baptista 5 , Maria Teresa Garcia-Iriarte 6 , Carlos Casado Alba 7 , Monica Perona 8 , Paz Francisca Borrmann 9 , Laura Rodriguez Alcala 10 , Guillermo Plaza 11
Background: We present the first case of a patient with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA), where drug induced sleep endoscopy was helpful to suspect a non-acid reflux disease and showed an improvement in a swollen epiglottis after treatment. Patient ameliorated significantly his disease only with medical therapy.
Case presentation: A 54-year-old man without significant anatomical findings with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and non-acid gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) disease whose Apnea- hypopnea index (AHI) was significantly reduced with the intake of 500 mg of sodium alginate twice a day for 6 months.
Conventional digestive tests such as esophagoscopy and simple- and double-channel 24-h pH-metry suggested mild GERD. Conventional proton-pump inhibitor treatment with pantoprazole (40 mg daily) was started without any improvement in his sleep. Multichannel intraluminal 24-h impedanciometry indicated the presence of severe pathological GER of gaseous origin.
The patient's AHI decreased from 25.3 at baseline to 8 after treatment with sodium alginate. A drug-induced sleep endoscopy study showed the changes before and after this treatment and was helpful for the diagnosis.
Conclusions: Thus, medical treatment can be a therapeutic option in some patients with OSA. Multichannel 24-h impedanciometry should be performed when nonacid GERD is suspected.
CITATION J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2021 Jun 30;50(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s40463-021-00526-w.