[Sleep apnea syndrome : multidisciplinary management. Apropos of a preliminary experience]

The authors describe a multidisciplinary approach for patients with sleep apnea syndrome. During the first year 40 patients with obstructive sleep apnea documented by polysomnographic recordings were managed. Therapy proposed to the patient included weight loss and abstention from sedatives at night as sole treatment (n = 12) or, more often, combined with nasal and/or throat surgery (n = 21) or nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) during sleep (n = 7). NCPAP was by far the most effective in reversing apneas but in view of its cost for the patient and its constraining aspects was proposed solely to those patients with the most severe apnea syndromes.