New treatment for patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

1)动物实验：在6只麻醉犬上观察刺激颏舌肌（GG）对上气道阻力的影响。切断颈段气管，分离上、下气道，在气管近端施加5、10、20 cm H_2O的恒定负压，获得上气道压力-流量关系。刺激可显著降低上气道阻力（Rua）。在50 Hz以下，随着频率的增加，Rua显著降低，而在50 Hz以上，Rua接近最小值。2）临床研究：我们研究了经皮电刺激GG肌对阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停综合征（OSAS）患者睡眠的影响。使用我们研制的呼吸暂停痴呆型刺激器，在呼吸暂停发作后5秒触发颏下电刺激，并记录气管呼吸音，呼吸恢复后立即停止，最长10秒。与对照组相比，使用颏下刺激后，呼吸暂停指数、最长呼吸暂停持续时间和每小时血氧饱和度降至85%以下的次数显著减少。这些结果表明，呼吸暂停需求型刺激器可能是一种非侵入性和有效的治疗OSAS。

1) Animal study: To investigate the possible effectiveness of Genioglossus muscle (GG) stimulation on upper airway resistance in six anesthetized dogs. The upper airway was isolated from the lower airway by transecting the cervical trachea and the pressure flow relationship of the upper aireay was obtained by applying constant negative pressure (5, 10 and 20 cm H_2O) to the proximal cut end of the trachea. Upper airway resistance (Rua) was significantly reduced by stimulation. below 50Hz Rua decreased markedly as frequency increased, but above 50Hz Rua approached a minimum value.2) Clinical study: We examined the effects of percutaneous electrical stimulation of the GG muscle in patients with odstructive sleep apnea symdrome (OSAS) during sleep. Using an apnea demend-type stimulator which we have developed, submental electrical stimulation was triggered five seconds after onset of apnea, which was recorded by tracheal breathing sound, and was stopped immediately after breathing resumed or after ten seconds at the longest. With submental stimulation, the apnea index, longest apnea duration, and the number of times per hour that oxygen saturation dropped below 85% decreased significantly, compared to control nights. These findings suggest that the apnea demand-type stimulator may be a non-invasive and effective treatment for OSAS.