[Effectiveness of an anti-snoring prosthesis in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome]

Nasal CPAP is a well documented successful therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), but adverse effects are common and the compliance is 80 percent or less. We investigated the value of an oral device called "Snor Ex"). Eleven obese patients with severe OSAS were examined. Complete polysomnographic studies were performed while sleeping one night without therapy, with nCPAP and after an adaptation period with Snor Ex, respectively. The apopnoeahypopnoea index and the minimal SaO2 could be normalised for all patients using CPAP but only for three patients with Snor Ex. Nine patients tolerated nCPAP and Snor-Ex, respectively. We conclude that this oral device is a successful therapy for only few patients with OSAS.