Obstructive Sleep Apnea Clinical Trials

Substance use disorder (SUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently co-occur and having both disorders is associated with greater psychological and functional impairment than having either disorder alone. This is especially true in residential settings where both disorders are more severe than outpatient settings. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly comorbid with both disorders and untreated OSA is associated with worse functional impairment across multiple domains, worse quality of life, worse PTSD, higher suicidal ideation, and higher substance use and relapse rates. Treating OSA with evidence-based positive airway pressure (PAP) in Veterans with SUD/PTSD on a residential unit is a logical way to maximize treatment adherence and treatment outcomes. This study compares OSA treatment while on a SUD/PTSD residential unit to a waitlist control group. The investigators hypothesize that treating OSA on the residential unit, compared to the waitlist control, will have better functional, SUD, and PTSD outcomes. Read Less

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major public health issue in both children and adults, present in 1-5% of children and 10-30% of adults. It is characterized by repeated episodes of airway obstruction during sleep, leading to brain arousal, sympathetic activation, oxygen desaturation, sleep fragmentation, and non-restorative sleep. Patients report daytime tiredness, insomnia, and morning headaches. Children with OSA experience daytime somnolence, difficulties at school, behavioral problems, enuresis, and reduced quality of life. If left untreated, OSA can lead to numerous complications including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and insulin resistance. Sleep partners are also affected, with patients viewing their disorder as a burden and sleeping in separate rooms. Further, disease prevalence is increasing as obesity increases. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the current gold standard treatment for OSA. If used effectively and consistently, it can improve patient symptoms. However, adherence is generally poor, with patients experiencing physical discomfort, chest discomfort, and dry mouth. For those patients that cannot tolerate CPAP, surgical intervention is an option. In children, this typically starts with adenotonsillectomy. However, 20-75% of children will have persistent symptoms after adenotonsillectomy. In adults, anatomic factors including tonsil hypertrophy and redundant pharyngeal tissue can contribute to upper airway obstruction and may also necessitate higher pressures for effective CPAP treatment. Even if surgical intervention does not cure the OSA, it may make CPAP more tolerable and improve CPAP adherence. Sleep-related airway obstruction is a complex phenomenon potentially involving multiple anatomic levels. For patients with persistent symptoms despite initial therapy or intolerance to CPAP, further evaluation of the upper airway is clinically valuable. Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for diagnosing OSA, but it does not provide information on the location(s) of upper airway obstruction. Knowledge of the precise sites of obstruction is critical to planning effective sleep surgery. Currently, this is accomplished with drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE). DISE was originally proposed in 1991 and involves administering anesthetic to a patient to simulate a sleep state, and then visualizing the upper airway using transnasal flexible endoscopy. Sites of obstruction at key locations including the adenoids, soft palate, lateral oropharynx, tongue base, and epiglottis can be identified. Though DISE offers valuable clinical information, it has notable limitations. First, it cannot evaluate the entire upper airway simultaneously, as any obstruction occurring superiorly precludes visualization of any obstruction occurring more inferiorly. Second, interpretation of DISE is subjective and there is no universally accepted system for analysis. Rating systems are qualitative, using grades such as complete, partial, or no obstruction as opposed to quantitative measurements. The optimal sleep assessment would be quantitative, reliable, and provide information on the entire upper airway simultaneously. A potential alternative to DISE which could meet these criteria is sleep manometry. Measurement of upper airway pressures captures the effects of obstruction along the entire upper airway, from the nasopharynx to larynx. Prior studies have attempted to employ manometry, but have been limited primarily by inadequate equipment and suboptimal methods of data analysis. Woodson et al. used a solid-state manometer with diameter of 2.3 mm and 5 sensors to detect palatal obstruction and tongue base obstruction in patients with OSA. They also used the same approach to detect persistent tongue base obstruction following uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. While these studies help demonstrate that manometry can be a useful adjunct to OSA assessment, they are severely limited both by the type of manometer used as well as the lack of a clear, detailed description of the method of data analysis. High-resolution manometry (HRM) uses pressure censors spaced 1 cm apart to allow for pressure measurement along the entire upper airway. The investigators have previously applied HRM to assessment of swallow physiology. Sophisticated methods of automated data analysis have been developed that have been shown to be reliable for both expert and novice users . Further, pattern recognition techniques have been applied to identify dysphagia and specific swallowing abnormalities. Application of this technology and modification of existing data analysis platforms will allow for a quantitative, reliable, and comprehensive assessment of upper airway obstruction during sleep in both children and adults, with potential for development of algorithms to predict effects of targeted surgical therapy at all levels of the upper airway. Read Less

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a severe type of snoring causing people to choke in their sleep. It affects millions of Americans, causing many health problems. For example, patients with OSA often feel very sleepy and are at risk of falling asleep while driving. OSA also causes elevated blood pressure, memory problems and can severely affect quality of life. Patients with OSA are often treated with a face-mask that helps them breath at night but can be difficult to tolerate. In fact, about half the patients eventually stop using this mask. Because there are few other treatments (and no drug therapy), many OSA patients are still untreated. Acetazolamide (a mild diuretic drug) has been used for over 50 years to treat many different conditions and is well tolerated. Recent data suggest, that acetazolamide may help OSA patients to not choke in their sleep and lower their blood pressure. Further, its low cost (66¢/day) and once-daily dosing may be attractive for OSA patients unable or unwilling to wear a mask each night. But previous studies had many limitations such as studying acetazolamide for only a few days and not capturing important outcomes. The goal of this study is to test if acetazolamide can improve sleep apnea, neurocognitive function and quality of life in adults with OSA, and to assess how it does that. Thus, the investigators will treat 60 OSA patients with acetazolamide or placebo for 4 weeks each. The order in which participants receive the drug or placebo will be randomized. At the end of each 4 week period the investigators will assess OSA severity, neurocognitive function and quality of life. Thus, this study will help assess acetazolamide's potential value for OSA treatment, and may also help to identify patients who are most likely to respond to acetazolamide. Ultimately, this work promises a drug therapy option for millions of OSA patients who are unable to tolerate current treatments Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and feasibility of the Magnap magnetic device in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Read Less

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are highly prevalent chronic respiratory diseases in the Veteran population. OSA co-occurring with COPD, known as Overlap Syndrome (OVS), is a complex chronic medical condition associated with grave consequences. OVS is highly prevalent in Veterans. Veterans with OVS may be at increased risk for cognitive deficits, poor sleep quality as well as a reduced quality of life (QoL). The overall objective is to study the effects of positive airway pressure therapy on clinical outcomes in patients with OVS. Read Less

Cognitive dysfunction in the aging Veteran population is a growing health concern in the Veterans Health System. It is not known whether OSA coexisting with COPD will enhance the risk for cognitive dysfunction. The investigators sought to investigate whether these two highly prevalent diseases, that often co-exist as the 'Overlap Syndrome', combine to enhance cognitive impairment in the elderly Veteran population. Thus, the investigators will study whether elderly patients with Overlap syndrome have increased cognitive deficits compared with OSA or COPD alone. Additionally, treatment of OSA with positive airway pressure (PAP) has been shown to improve neurocognitive function in moderate-to-severe OSA while cognitive decline in COPD may be reversible through treatment with long-term oxygen therapy. The investigators will also study whether treatment with positive airway pressure (PAP) and supplemental oxygen vs PAP alone will improve cognitive function and improve quality of life of elderly Veterans. Read Less

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disorder where a person has recurrent choking episodes during sleep. Surgery can treat OSA and drug induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is a procedure that surgeons use to evaluate the throat while a person is sedated, mimicking sleep, to help determine if surgery might be effective. Lung volume can influence OSA severity but the relationship between lung function and throat collapse seen on DISE has not been well studied. This study aims to see if lung volume influences what is happening in the throat during DISE. Participants will be recruited from the sleep surgery clinic where they are being evaluated for surgery to treat their OSA. Participants will have a DISE that is performed as part of their routine surgical workup for treatment of OSA. Additionally, during the DISE, they will participate in one of two study groups. One group will have a negative pressure "turtle shell" ventilator placed over the participants chest during DISE to manipulate lung volumes to see if it can improve throat collapse. A second group will have electrodes placed over the neck to stimulate the phrenic nerve to contract the diaphragm to improve lung volumes to see if it can improve throat collapse. Both groups will also have a lung function test performed.The findings of this study will be important in improving pre-surgical evaluation of patients to better predict if surgery can help as well as potentially develop new surgical therapies for the treatment of OSA. Read Less

This study will investigate why some people have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and how the underlying cause may relate to OSA manifestations (including sleepiness and high blood pressure) and response to different therapeutic approaches (ie CPAP, eszopiclone, and supplemental oxygen). Understanding why someone has OSA could affect how best to treat that individual, but may also have an impact on what problems the disease might cause. Read Less

Polysomnography (PSG) and drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) are widely used diagnostic studies for assessing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity and collapse patterns of the upper airway anatomy during sleep. Hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS) therapy for obstructive sleep apnea suffers from variable response at the level of the soft palate. The Investigators propose a study examining the physiologic effect of ansa cervicalis stimulation (ACS) alone and in combination with HNS during PSG and DISE. Read Less

The investigators seek to advance the understanding of obstructive sleep apnea as it relates to different ethnic origins as well as sex differences. The investigators will compare Somali patients with known obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to individuals without OSA, and to individuals of other ethnic/racial origins to determine the risk factors (genetic and/or physiologic) associated with developing cardiovascular diseases. This will help the investigators to understand the unique sleep pathology of individuals of African descent. Read Less

This is an open-label study of the combination of atomoxetine and oxybutynin (ato-oxy) in children with Down syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) documented by polysomnography (PSG). Participants will receive ato-oxy for 6 months. Ato-oxy dose will be 5 mg oxybutynin and 0.5mg/kg/day (max 40 mg) atomoxetine. Dosing of the study treatment will occur approximately 30 minutes prior to bedtime. Participants who withdraw from the study will not be replaced. Study participants will undergo eligibility screening that will include an initial screening to determine whether non- PSG enrollment criteria are met, followed by a 1 night in-lab PSG and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and cognitive assessment for participants who qualify based on non-PSG criteria. For participants who are eligible and enroll in the study, the screening PSG night will serve as the baseline measure for apnea hypopnea index (AHI) and other PSG endpoints. On the final night of dosing for ato-oxy participants will return for inpatient PSG and health-related quality of life assessment and cognitive assessment. The primary efficacy endpoint is the change in obstructive AHI from baseline. Read Less

This is an R01 funded project that focuses on the utility of metabolomics as a biomarker for OSA. Aims 1 and 3 leverages banked samples previously collected from subjects with and without OSA at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Iceland. Aim 2 is a prospective study that will collect serum samples from OSA subjects at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Iceland. Read Less