Abstract Introduction Hypoglossal nerve stimulators (HGNS) are used in patients with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who are unable to tolerate or do not respond to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. However, a subgroup of patients fail to achieve resolution of OSA with HGNS alone. Previous studies have shown that lower BMI, lower nadir oxygenation, decreased sleep latency, and higher VOTE score on drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) predict better treatment outcome. We hypothesize that baseline diagnostic polysomnography (PSG) may further predict which patients will achieve successful therapeutic outcome with HGNS therapy. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of all adult patients who underwent HGNS implantation at Mayo Clinic Arizona between 2019-2025 and had a pre-implantation diagnostic PSG available for review. Treatment success was defined by Sher Criteria: 50% reduction in post-treatment apnea hypopnea index (AHI) to a final AHI of 20/hr. Responders met Sher criteria and non-responders did not meet Sher criteria. Demographics, sleep questionnaire results, PSG variables, and VOTE score on DISE were collected and analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation of reduction in AHI. Results Twenty-three patients (11M/12F, median age: 69IQR:64,75 years) met inclusion criteria. Median baseline AHI was 24IQR:19,37/hr. Median post-implant AHI was 8 IQR:3, 14/hr. Responders (n=15, 65%) and non-responders (n=8, 35%) demonstrated median post-implant AHI of 4.5IQR:2.3,7.3/hr and 15.7IQR:12.3,28.5/hr, respectively. Treatment response was associated with less time with SpO2 88% (T88%) (21min IQR:3,64 vs. 73IQR:36,105mins; p=0.023) and higher central apnea index (CAI) (1IQR:0.1,3 vs. 0IQR:0,1, p=0.03) on pre-implantation PSG. Conclusion In this small cohort of OSA patients, less nocturnal hypoxemia as defined by T88% and higher baseline central apnea index were predictors of better treatment response to HGNS therapy as measured by Sher criteria. We hypothesize that greater nocturnal hypoxemia likely reflects more severe airway obstruction during sleep. Our analysis also showed that responders had higher baseline CAI than non-responders, however we believe this association is not clinically significant and likely driven by one outlier (CAI 13/hr). Further analysis in a larger HGNS cohort is needed to confirm these findings. Data enrichment efforts and more sophisticated analyses are underway. Support (if any)
Dunn et al. (Fri,) studied this question.