Oral Appliances for Sleep Apnea a Promising Alternative to CPAP in Seniors

HONOLULU — Oral appliance therapy may be a promising alternative to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in elderly patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a pilot study suggested.

Among 40 patients at follow-up testing, 52% of those with mild-to-moderate OSA and 50% of those with severe OSA had a ≥50% reduction in their Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) scores with oral appliance treatment, reported Eliza Thompson, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, during the CHEST annual meeting hosted by the American College of Chest Physicians.

At initial testing before oral appliance treatment, patients with mild-to-moderate OSA had a median AHI of 9.6, while those with severe OSA had a median AHI of 35.8 (P
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