The treatment was effective in reducing obstructive events which were evaluated through the AHI and minimum oxygen saturation. The oral appliances also normalized central and mixed events among patients with severe OSAS.

Mandibular advancement device (MAD) has been described as an alternative treatment to the severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), once it is not as effective as the continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP) in reducing the apnea and hypopnea index (AHI). The objective of this study is to report a case using a MAD in a CPAP-intolerant patient suffering from severe OSA. Polysomnography exams were performed before and after treatment. Five months after fitting and titrating the MAD, the AHI was reduced from 80.5 events/hour to 14.6 events/hour and the minimum oxyhemoglobin saturation (SpO2) increased from 46% to 83%. A two-year assessment of therapy revealed an AHI of 8 events/hour and SpO2 of 85%.

Background:Dental practitioners have a key role in the quality of life and prevention of occupational accidents of workers with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS).Aim:The aim of this study was to review the impact of OSAS, the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy, and the evidence regarding the use of oral appliances (OA) on the health and safety of workers.Materials and Methods:Searches were conducted in MEDLINE (PubMed), Lilacs and Sci ELO. Articles published from January 1980 to June 2014 were included.Results:The research retrieved 2188 articles and 99 met the inclusion criteria. An increase in occupational accidents due to reduced vigilance and attention in snorers and patients with OSAS was observed. Such involvements were related to excessive daytime sleepiness and neurocognitive function impairments. The use of OA are less effective when compared with CPAP, but the results related to excessive sleepiness and cognitive performance showed improvements similar to CPAP. Treatments with OA showed greater patient compliance than the CPAP therapy.Conclusion:OSAS is a prevalent disorder among workers, leads to increased risk of occupational accidents, and has a significant impact on the economy. The CPAP therapy reduces the risk of occupational accidents. The OA can improve the work performance; but there is no scientific evidence associating its use with occupational accidents reduction. Future research should focus on determining the cost-effectiveness of OA as well as its influence and efficacy in preventing occupational accidents.

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Aims:A cross-sectional study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a mandibular advancement device (MAD) with respect to respiratory and sleep parameters among miners with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and primary snore. Methods: The target sample was composed by 102 Brazilian miners with a history of non-adherence to continuous positive airway pressure. All patients were treated with a MAD and underwent pre and post-treatment full-night polysomnography. Ethical approval and consents were obtained. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted. The level of statistical significance was set at 5%. Results: After the treatment with MAD, 71.8% of patients presented a decrease ≥ 50% in the basal apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), 51.2% presented an AHI < 5 events/h and 83.3% reached an AHI<10/h, whereas 22.5% did not show any changes and 7.5% of the sample presented an increase in the AHI (p<0.05). There was an increase in the mean SpO2 nadir (p<0.001) and in the baseline duration of the REM sleep stage (p<0.05). The MAD significantly decreased snore events (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis did not identify predictive factors related to therapy success (decrease ≥ 50% of AHI). However, basal AHI was a significant predictor related to the secondary endpoint (AHI<10/h) (OR= 1.06, IC 95%1.00-1.13, p=0.007). Conclusions:The MAD therapy showed significant improvements in AHI, minimum oxygen saturation, REM sleep and snoring.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) (OMIM #107650) is characterized by complete or partial obstruction of the upper airways, resulting in periods of sleep associated apnea. OSAS increases morbidity and mortality risk from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. While heritability of OSAS is estimated at ∼40%, the precise underlying genes remain elusive. Brazilian families with OSAS that follows as seemingly autosomal dominant inheritance pattern were recruited.Methods: The study included nine individuals from two Brazilian families displaying a seemingly autosomal dominant inheritance pattern of OSAS. Whole exome sequencing of germline DNA were analyzed using Mendel, MD software. Variants selected were analyzed using Varstation® with subsequent analyses that included validation by Sanger sequencing, pathogenic score assessment by ACMG criteria, co-segregation analyses (when possible) allele frequency, tissue expression patterns, pathway analyses, effect on protein folding modeling using Swiss-Model and RaptorX.Results: Two families (six affected patients and three unaffected controls) were analyzed. A comprehensive multistep analysis yielded variants in COX20 (rs946982087) (family A), PTPDC1 (rs61743388) and TMOD4 (rs141507115) (family B) that seemed to be strong candidate genes for being OSAS associated genes in these families.Conclusion: Sequence variants in COX20, PTPDC1 and TMOD4 seemingly are associated with OSAS phenotype in these families. Further studies in more, ethnically diverse families and non-familial OSAS cases are needed to better define the role of these variants as contributors to OSAS phenotype.

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