Positional Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome in Elderly Patients.
Giannicola Iannella, Giuseppe Magliulo, Cristina Anna Maria Lo Iacono, Giulia Bianchi, Antonella Polimeni, Antonio Greco, Andrea De Vito, Giuseppe Meccariello, Giovanni Cammaroto, Riccardo Gobbi, Marco Brunori, Milena Di Luca, Filippo Montevecchi, Annalisa Pace, Irene Claudia Visconti, Claudia Milella, Carmen Solito, Stefano Pelucchi, Luca Cerritelli, Claudio Vicini
Author Information
Giannicola Iannella: Department of 'Organi di Senso', University "Sapienza",Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy. ORCID
Giuseppe Magliulo: Department of 'Organi di Senso', University "Sapienza",Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Cristina Anna Maria Lo Iacono: Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Nephrologic, Anaesthesiologic and Geriatric Sciences, Sapienza University, Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Giulia Bianchi: Department ENT & Audiology, University of Ferrara, Via Savonarola, 9, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
Antonella Polimeni: Department of Oral and Maxillo Facial Sciences, University "Sapienza", Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy. ORCID
Antonio Greco: Department of 'Organi di Senso', University "Sapienza",Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy. ORCID
Andrea De Vito: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology, Head-Neck and Oral Surgery Unit, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, Via Carlo Forlanini, 34, 47121 Forlì, Italy. ORCID
Giuseppe Meccariello: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology, Head-Neck and Oral Surgery Unit, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, Via Carlo Forlanini, 34, 47121 Forlì, Italy.
Giovanni Cammaroto: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology, Head-Neck and Oral Surgery Unit, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, Via Carlo Forlanini, 34, 47121 Forlì, Italy. ORCID
Riccardo Gobbi: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology, Head-Neck and Oral Surgery Unit, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, Via Carlo Forlanini, 34, 47121 Forlì, Italy.
Marco Brunori: Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Nephrologic, Anaesthesiologic and Geriatric Sciences, Sapienza University, Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Milena Di Luca: Department of ENT, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia, 78, 95125 Catania, Italy.
Filippo Montevecchi: ENT Unit Villa Serena, Via del Camaldolino, 8, 47121 Forlì, Italy.
Annalisa Pace: Department of 'Organi di Senso', University "Sapienza",Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Irene Claudia Visconti: Department of 'Organi di Senso', University "Sapienza",Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Claudia Milella: Department of 'Organi di Senso', University "Sapienza",Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Carmen Solito: Department of 'Organi di Senso', University "Sapienza",Viale dell'Università, 33, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Stefano Pelucchi: Department ENT & Audiology, University of Ferrara, Via Savonarola, 9, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
Luca Cerritelli: Department ENT & Audiology, University of Ferrara, Via Savonarola, 9, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
Claudio Vicini: Department of Head-Neck Surgery, Otolaryngology, Head-Neck and Oral Surgery Unit, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, Via Carlo Forlanini, 34, 47121 Forlì, Italy.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of position-dependent obstructive sleep apnea (POSA) in elderly patients (≥65 years old). Adult (range 19-65 years old) and elderly patients were also compared in order to show differences in the incidence of POSA between these two groups of patients. A prospective bi-center study was performed between January 2018 and May 2019. A total of 434 participants underwent polysomnography (PSG) study at home (Embletta MPR). Body position during the PSG recordings was determined. Patients were subdivided in two groups: those aged between 19 and 65 years old (adult patients) and ≥65 years old (elderly patients). POSA patients were defined using Cartwright's system, Bignold classification, and the new Amsterdam Positional OSA Classification (APOC). The prevalence of POSA in elderly patients differed according to the classification system used: 49.3% using Cartwright's classification system, 20.5% with the Bignold classification, and 22.6%, 38.9%, and 5.4% of APOC 1, APOC 2, and APOC3 sub-classes were respectively identified for the APOC classification system. No difference between adult and elderly patients regarding the prevalence of POSA was observed. No statistical differences emerged between the two groups of patients in terms of supine ( = 0.9) and non-supine AHI ( = 0.4). A significant number of elderly patients could be considered treatable with positional therapy according to the APOC classification. However, the efficacy and applicability of positional therapy in elderly patients must be confirmed by further research.
