Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a complete or partial airway obstruction with multifactorial etiology. OSAS can cause significant disturbance with various clinical impacts. Several studies reported that the OSAS prevalence is 2 - 4% in men and 1 - 2% in women of average age. Frequent clinical manifestations are night snoring, headache when patient wakes up, day-time sleepiness and decrease of cognitive performance. The clinical polysomnography or nocturnal portable multi-channel monitoring have been used as a reference standard for the diagnosis of OSA. For patients affected by OSAS, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the first-line treatment for the majority of patients. However, long-term compliance with CPAP therapy may result limited and in literature there is no unanimous opinion on the alternative treatment of OSAS. The choice of therapy is guided by the etiology, severity, natural history of the increased upper airway resistance and co-morbidities. In fact OSAS is linked with high risk of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, daytime sleepiness, home and work-related accidents, with consequent worsening of life quality. For all these motives several studies underlined the importance of a praecox diagnosis and orthodontic therapy in order to re-establish normal function. Furthermore, treatment of this disease necessitates a multidisciplinary approach.
The aim of this Research Topic is to make a summary of the situation based on recent knowledge of OSAS etiology, diagnosis and therapy, paying particular attention to new discoveries on the use of innovative tests for diagnosis.
Although we are interested in all types of manuscripts, we are particularly interested in literature reviews and brief and/or extended reports. All material must cover OSAS studied and documented by clinical and/or test evaluations.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a complete or partial airway obstruction with multifactorial etiology. OSAS can cause significant disturbance with various clinical impacts. Several studies reported that the OSAS prevalence is 2 - 4% in men and 1 - 2% in women of average age. Frequent clinical manifestations are night snoring, headache when patient wakes up, day-time sleepiness and decrease of cognitive performance. The clinical polysomnography or nocturnal portable multi-channel monitoring have been used as a reference standard for the diagnosis of OSA. For patients affected by OSAS, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the first-line treatment for the majority of patients. However, long-term compliance with CPAP therapy may result limited and in literature there is no unanimous opinion on the alternative treatment of OSAS. The choice of therapy is guided by the etiology, severity, natural history of the increased upper airway resistance and co-morbidities. In fact OSAS is linked with high risk of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, daytime sleepiness, home and work-related accidents, with consequent worsening of life quality. For all these motives several studies underlined the importance of a praecox diagnosis and orthodontic therapy in order to re-establish normal function. Furthermore, treatment of this disease necessitates a multidisciplinary approach.
The aim of this Research Topic is to make a summary of the situation based on recent knowledge of OSAS etiology, diagnosis and therapy, paying particular attention to new discoveries on the use of innovative tests for diagnosis.
Although we are interested in all types of manuscripts, we are particularly interested in literature reviews and brief and/or extended reports. All material must cover OSAS studied and documented by clinical and/or test evaluations.