Description of Research Expertise:
Dr. Schwab’s research has focused on the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea utilizing novel upper airway imaging techniques. His studies help elucidate the role of the motion of key structures of the upper airway in mediating airway closure. By examining dynamic state-related changes in the upper airway and soft tissue structures surrounding the upper airway he has begun to understand the biomechanics of apneic events. He has studied patients with both magnetic resonance imaging and electronic beam computed tomography during wakefulness and sleep. Several novel findings have resulted from these studies: 1) the anatomic significance of the lateral pharyngeal walls in mediating airway caliber in normals and apneics; and 2) the characterization of the changes in upper airway caliber during the respiratory cycle and the importance of end-expiratory airway narrowing. Dr. Schwab collaborates closely with members of the Departments of Radiology and Biomechanical and Computer Engineering. They have developed state-of-the-art, computer graphics-based analysis software to help model in three dimensions the biomechanical interrelationships between the soft tissue structures and the upper airway.
Selected Publications:
Clemens Heiser, Armin Steffen, Maurits Boon, Benedikt Hofauer, Karl Doghramji, Joachim T. Maurer, J. Ulrich Sommer, Ryan Soose, Patrick J. Strollo Jr, Richard Schwab, Erica Thaler, Kirk Withrow, Alan Kominsky, Christopher Larsen, Eric J. Kezirian, Jennifer Hsia, Stanley Chia, John Harwick, Kingman Strohl and Reena Mehra: Post-approval upper airway stimulation predictors of treatment efficacy in the ADHERE registry Eur Respir J : 2019.
Yuan Feng, Brendan T Keenan, Stephen Wang, Sarah Leinwand, Andrew Wiemken, Allan I Pack, and Richard J. Schwab: Dynamic Upper Airway Imaging During Wakefulness in Obese Subjects with and without Sleep Apnea Am J Respir Crit Care Med : 2018.
Yaeger A, Cash NR, Parham T, Frankel DS, Deo R, Schaller RD, Santangeli P, Nazarian S, Supple GE, Arkles J, Riley MP, Garcia FC, Lin D, Epstein AE, Callans DJ, Marchlinski FE, Kolansky DM, Mora JI, Amaro 3, Schwab R, Pack A, Dixit S: A Nurse-Led Limited Risk Factor Modification Program to Address Obesity and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Journal of the American Heart Association : 2018.
Turnbull CD, Wang SH, Manuel AR, Keenan BT, McIntyre AG, Schwab RJ, Stradling JR: Relationships between MRI fat distributions and sleep apnea and obesity hypoventilation syndrome in very obese patients. Sleep & Breathing 22 (3): 673-681,2018.
RJ Schwab, SH Wang, J Verbraecken, OM Vanderveken, P Van de Heyning, WG Vos, JW DeBacker, BT Keenan, Q Ni, W DeBacker: Anatomic Predictors of Response and Mechanism of Action of Upper Airway Stimulation Therapy in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea SLEEP 41 (4): 2018.
Schwab RJ, Leinwand SE, Bearn CB, Maislin G, Rao RB, Nagaraja A, Wang S, Keenan BT: Digital Morphometrics: A New Upper Airway Phenotyping Paradigm in OSA Chest 152 (2): 330-342,2017.
Carole L Marcus, Brendan T Keenan, Jingtao Huang, Haibo Yuan, Swaroop Pinto, Ruth M Bradford, Christopher Kim, Sheila Bagchi, Francois-Louis Comyn, Stephen Wang, Ignacio E Tapia, Greg Maislin, Christopher M Cielo, Joel Traylor, Drew A Torigian, Richard J Schwab: The obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in adolescents Thorax 72 (8): 720-728,2017.
Loro E, Wang SH, Schwab RJ, Khurana TS: In Vivo Evaluattion of the Mechanical and Viscoelastic Properties of the Rat Tongue J Vis Exp (125): 2017.
Imran H. Iftikhar1, Lia Bittencourt, Shawn D. Youngstedt, Najib Ayas, Peter Cistulli, Richard Schwab, Martin W. Durkin, Ulysses J. Magalang: Comparative efficacy of CPAP, MADs, exercise-training and dietary weight loss for sleep apnea: a network meta-analysis Sleep Medicine 30 : 7-14,2017.
Erica R. Thaler, MD; Richard J. Schwab, MD: Single Institution Experience and Learning Curve with UAS The Laryngoscope 126 (S7): S17-S19,2016.