[Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea]

Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea are similar disorders in etiology, with differences in clinical presentation and treatment. 5-20% of young and 40-50% of older population are affected by either of these disorders. Etiology of snoring should be sought in the anatomic irregularities of commencing portions of the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, obesity, alcohol abuse, use of some medications as well as in the sleep architecture disturbance. Treatment success depends on correctly established diagnosis and precise localisation of anatomic irregularity implicated in snoring. A wide array of diagnostic tests exist some of which are mandatory while the others are used on a case-by-case basis. Treatment is either conservative or surgical. The success rate is 30-90% depending on the type and the management of disorder. An algorithm for diagnosis and treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea is shown at the end of the paper.