2003 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 39-42
We reported a case of sleep apnea syndrome caused by an epiglottal prolapse.
This case was a 63-year-old man who was suffering from snoring and apnea, especially while sleeping in the supine position. There was neither a history of head and neck surgery, nor any head injury or coma.
Flexible fiberscopic laryngoscopy suggested that the epiglottis was contacting the posterior pharyngeal wall during sleep, causing airway obstruction. Utilizing an apnea monitor, this case was diagnosed as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome with an apnea index of 15.3. There was no physical findings suggesting relapsing polychondritis.
His symptoms disappeared following a partial epiglottectomy under an operating microscope. Considering the patient's age, a staged epiglottectomy was performed in order to avoid postoperative swallowing dysfunction.
The diagnosis of the location and severity of sleep dyspnea should take into account a careful history of the symptoms and signs, local and general physical findings, including fiberscopy, X-ray films of the upper airway profile, as well as data collected from an apnea monitor.
