Videoradiography of patients with habitual snoring and/or sleep apnea. Technical description and presentation of videoradiographic results during sleep concerning occurrence of apnea, type of apnea, and site of obstruction.

PURPOSE

The videoradiographic examination described was designed for habitual snorers and sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) patients and was performed during wakefulness and sleep. During wakefulness the purpose was to reveal any dysfunction in deglutition and speech as well as morphologic abnormalities. The purpose during sleep, which usually was induced by low-dose midazolam intravenously, was to reveal the site and form of obstruction in obstructive sleep apnea patients and the site of snoring in habitual snorers.

MATERIAL

The preoperative results of 104 patients are presented. In 57 patients who had apneas, the occurrence and type of apnea could be determined.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

A continuous recording over some minutes gave a rough estimate of the degree of SAS and mean duration of apnea. Although much information on SAS can be obtained by this method, it cannot replace polygraphic sleep recording in the investigation of habitual snorers and SAS patients. However, these 2 methods are complementary and can be performed simultaneously as polygraphic videoradiography.