SAN DIEGO – Some obstructive sleep apnea patients who can’t or won’t use continuous positive airway pressure therapy will benefit from supplemental oxygen therapy, but some won’t – and until now, prolonged testing is needed to tell which patients are which.
Scott A. Sands, Ph.D., and his associates at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, have found a simpler way to detect which patients would be helped by supplemental oxygen therapy. In a video interview, he describes in simple terms the patient characteristics that he looks for in polysomnography patterns he said at an international conference of the American Thoracic Society. His randomized, controlled trial in 19 patients showed that patients identified by this method did benefit from supplemental oxygen therapy, and their sleep patterns improved.
Dr. Sands reported having no financial disclosures.
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