One-year results:: Palatal implants for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate long-term effectiveness of palatal implants for treatment of mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study of 26 referred patients with a pretreatment apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 10 to 30 and a body mass index of : 30, representing an extended follow-up of a subset of 41 patients enrolled in previous short-term trials. RESULTS: Twenty-one of 26 patients (80.8%) experienced a decrease in AHI. Fifteen of 26 patients (57.7%) had a follow-up AHI < 10 at I year, whereas 13 patients (50%) had a 50% or greater reduction to an AHI < 10 at 1 year. Mean AHI was reduced from 16.5 +/- 4.5 at baseline to 12.5 +/- 10.5 at 3 months (P < 0.014) and to 12.3 +/- 12.7 at I year (P < 0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Patients initially responding to palatal implants with improved AHI maintained improvement through longterm follow-up at 1 year. (C) 2007 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. All rights reserved.