IDENTIFYING OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP-APNEA IN PATIENTS PRESENTING FOR LASER-ASSISTED UVULOPALATOPLASTY

The authors report on a series of 850 patients with snoring who were e valuated for laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP), Stepwise multiva riate linear regression was employed to correlate patient symptoms and characteristics to the respiratory disturbance index (RDI). Body mass index, falling asleep while driving, snoring every night, and stoppin g breathing during sleep were found to correlate strongly with an incr easing RDI (variance of 25%). Logistic multivariate linear regression analysis was used to predict the outcome of apnea (RDI>10), This model selected all of the above variables, as well as age, male sex, and th e total number of symptoms, as being strong predictors of apnea, A rec eiver operating characteristic curve was used to describe the ability of this model to predict apnea. The authors conclude that otolaryngolo gists play an important role in the evaluation of OSAS, especially whe n a snoring patient may undergo LAUP. and they present an algorithm fo r the evaluation of such a patient. The authors believe that the clini cal assesment, including a thorough history and a complete physical ex amination, remains extremely important in this evaluation. At present, the authors strongly recommend referral for a PSG if there is any sus picion of OSAS.