PURPOSE To test the efficacy of the LMA in patients with previous oral or cervical radiotherapy, without upper airway obstruction. METHODS In nine patients after oral or cervical radiotherapy, efficiency of ventilation was assessed after induction of general anaesthesia and LMA insertion. Fibreoptic examination through the tube was performed to check the position of LMA. RESULTS In patients...

Bilston LE, Gandevia SC. Biomechanical properties of the human upper airway and their effect on its behavior during breathing and in obstructive sleep apnea. J Appl Physiol 116: 314 –324, 2014. First published July 3, 2013; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00539.2013.—The upper airway is a complex, multifunctional, dynamic neuromechanical system. Its patency during breathing requires moment-to-moment c...

We assessed upper airway responses to acute and chronic inspiratory loading. In Experiment I, 11 healthy subjects underwent T(2)-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of upper airway dilator muscles (genioglossus and geniohyoid) before and up to 10 min after a single bout of pressure threshold inspiratory muscle training (IMT) at 60% maximal inspiratory mouth pressure (MIP). T(2) values for...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this observational study was to investigate the relationship between upper-airway configuration assessed by CT imaging during the Müller maneuver state and the severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). METHODS A total of 358 snoring subjects who underwent standard polysomnography and upper-airway configuration by using CT imaging were enrolled. According t...

We characterized the passive structural and active neuromuscular control of pharyngeal collapsibility in mice and hypothesized that pharyngeal collapsibility, which is elevated by anatomic loads, is reduced by active neuromuscular responses to airflow obstruction. To address this hypothesis, we examined the dynamic control of upper airway function in the isolated upper airway of anesthetized C5...

The prevalence of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is approximately 7.5% in Japanese adults aged 18-68 years old. SAS is characterized by repeated episodes of apnea, especially obstructive apnea, during sleep. Severe SAS has life-threatening complications such as pulmonary hypertension, arrhythmias, right heart failure or brain damage, which could be caused by hypoxemia and/or hypercapnia. Upper airw...