Sleep apnea care

We understand that sleep apnea affects every aspect of your life. Not only does it keep you from getting a full night’s rest, but it also impacts your mood, focus, and energy level during the day. It can even increase your risk of serious health conditions such as stroke or heart disease. But dealing with an endless cycle of fatigue doesn’t have to be a way of life.

At Penn Medicine, a multispecialty team of otorhinolaryngologists, sleep medicine physicians, pulmonologists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and head and neck surgeons work together to build your individualized treatment plan. Our sleep apnea specialists treat all types of sleep apnea with non-surgical and surgical therapies. We also specialize in caring for people with complex treatment-resistant sleep apnea and those considered high-risk due to obesity or heart disease.

Understanding sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes your breathing to stop and start repeatedly while you sleep. These pauses can happen a few hundred times each night. The most common type is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which happens when your upper airway muscles collapse. It can result from a narrow throat or jaw, obesity, or genetic factors. Other risk factors for OSA include smoking, alcohol use, and older age. Central sleep apnea (CSA) occurs when your brain doesn’t regulate your breathing correctly, usually due to stroke or other diseases.

State-of-the-art sleep centers for sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment 

Penn Medicine has sleep centers throughout the region accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. We make it easy to find high-quality sleep apnea care in the greater Philadelphia, Lancaster, and Princeton areas. Our centers offer a range of diagnostic services, including outpatient visits, comprehensive overnight sleep studies, and daytime nap studies.

We do comprehensive evaluations to find out what’s causing your sleep apnea. Our sleep centers are equipped with leading-edge diagnostic technology to examine your upper airway and monitor body functions while you sleep. We also assess your lifestyle and sleep habits to determine if other factors could be affecting your sleep quality.

The following tests may be part of the diagnostic process:

• Home sleep apnea test: You are given specialized equipment that monitors your breathing while you sleep at home.
• Sleep diary: You log your sleep routine, sleeping and waking patterns, and symptoms for two weeks.
• In-lab sleep study: Also called a polysomnogram, we use sensors on your face and scalp to monitor brain activity, heart rate, eye movements, and other functions while you sleep.
• Drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE): After you’re sedated, we insert an endoscope (thin tube with a light and camera) down your throat to find the exact location of blockages in your upper airway. DISE helps us select the right surgical treatment for your needs.

CPAP Alternatives Clinic 

One of the most common treatments for OSA is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. A CPAP machine keeps your airway open while you sleep. It’s an effective treatment for many people, but others have a hard time acclimating to CPAP. The mask can be uncomfortable or cause a dry nose or nasal congestion. Sometimes, the air pressure from the machine is too much for people to tolerate.

Fortunately, there are now CPAP alternatives for sleep apnea. Penn Medicine offers the latest evidence-based procedures for people whose sleep quality hasn’t improved with CPAP or oral appliances. Our CPAP Alternatives Clinic, led by physicians with extensive training in both sleep medicine and otorhinolaryngology, provides in-depth testing to pinpoint the cause of your sleep apnea.

The clinic offers a groundbreaking diagnostic tool called DISE-PAP, which combines drug-induced sleep endoscopy with a special type of positive airway pressure device. The test helps us see how your airway reacts to CPAP therapy and measures your air pressure tolerance. Depending on the results, we may recommend surgical sleep apnea treatment, such as nasal surgery, to improve the effectiveness of CPAP therapy. We also offer minimally invasive procedures such as transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and hypoglossal nerve stimulation.

Nationally recognized expertise in sleep disorders

We are one of only three sleep centers in the U.S. designated by the National Institutes of Health as a specialized center for sleep research. This designation means that our sleep disorder specialists study the latest diagnostic tools and therapies for sleep apnea and bring them to our patients. We also offer sleep apnea procedures that require a high level of technical skill, such as palatal and jaw advancement surgery.