Using Multi-Night Home Sleep Testing to Weigh Sleep Apnea Treatment Options: A Patient Case
This patient is a 53-year-old woman who has had obstructive sleep apnea and snoring for some time.
She was recommended for a frenotomy, a surgical procedure to release her tongue tie, if her sleep apnea persists with oral appliance therapy.
With several options available, she wanted objective data on how well her current therapy was working before deciding what to do next.
Wesper home sleep testing tracks a patient's response to therapy across multiple nights.
It measures the Apnea/Hypopnea Index (AHI), Respiratory Event Index (REI), and Oxygen Desaturation Index (ODI), along with other metrics such as mean and minimum SPO2 and breathing events, which gives the provider an objective view of the patient's sleep and breathing.
The patient completed five Wesper tests while using the therapy, and the data showed that mild obstructive sleep apnea was still present.
The patient had an average AHI of 7.2 across five tests, with a maximum recorded AHI of 11. The average ODI across 5 tests was 12.5, with the maximum recorded ODI of 17.6.
The data also showed nightly snoring, with an average snoring time across 5 tests at 146.8 minutes. Her maximum recorded snoring time was 176 minutes.
On review with a sleep expert, the patient confirmed that she was still having symptoms of her obstructive sleep apnea that haven’t improved after two months of therapy.
While her data did demonstrate significant improvement from moderate OSA, with some nights being within normal range, the majority of her tests still demonstrated mild OSA with habitual snoring.
The sleep expert recommended she return to her treating provider with her Wesper results and discuss her options moving forward.
The patient expressed that she was more comfortable pursuing the frenotomy now that she had data showing that her OSA had not fully improved with the therapy.
Wesper testing gave the patient an objective, multi-night view of her breathing to bring to her provider when discussing her treatment options. She plans to continue testing with Wesper after additional treatments to track her progress.
Wesper develops FDA-cleared home sleep testing medical devices used by clinicians, and a medical provider orders the test. Patients can talk with their doctor or sleep provider about home sleep testing, and clinicians can learn more on our page for providers.
Explanation of metrics
- Apnea/Hypopnea Index (AHI): the combined average number of apneas and hypopneas that occur per hour of sleep
- Respiratory Event Index (REI): the total number of apneas and hypopneas divided by the total device (Wesper) monitoring time in hours
- Oxygen Desaturation Index (ODI): the number of times per hour of sleep that the blood oxygen level drops by ≥ 4% from baseline
- Mean SPO2: The average blood oxygen saturation score
- Minimum SPO2: The lowest blood oxygen saturation score
- Breathing events: Moments of increased respiratory effort, which include reduced airflow and prolonged breathing stoppages.
References
This article is for general information and is not medical advice. Talk to a healthcare provider about your sleep health.
