Case reports of oral appliance therapy on three young adults with Down syndrome and OSA

Patients with Down syndrome (DS) have a high incidence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) due to hypotonia, weight, underdeveloped midface, and relative macroglossia. This article presents three cases of young adults with DS, who were diagnosed with mild to severe OSA and unable to tolerate positive airway pressure therapy. These patients have been successfully treated with a custom-made mandibular advancement device (MAD) or dual treatment with MAD and bi-level positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy. The baseline apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of the three patients were 15.5/h, 31.8/h, and 41.3/h. The follow-up AHI after the application of MAD in three patients was 25/h (13 months after), 6/h (ODI 4%, 57 months after), and 21.8/h (21 months after), respectively. The application of MAD to treat OSA in patients with DS is a reasonable alternative when patients refuse PAP therapy. Although MAD might be less effective than PAP therapy, significant symptomatic improvement could be found in patients with DS after oral appliance therapy. The combination of MAD and PAP can decrease the PAP pressure and therefore improve adherence. This is the first case report to show that young adult patients with DS can successfully benefit from oral appliance therapy for OSA treatment.