Eric J. Kezirian, MD, MPH

The 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation was entirely virtual. Is this the future of all medical conferences and courses? https://sleep-doctor.com//will-medical-courses-and-confer/

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea who cannot tolerate CPAP should consider alternative therapies. Oral myofunctional therapy (or orofacial myofunctional therapy) and frenuloplasty are being marketed as treatment options. Unfortunately, these are not proven treatments for adults with obstructive sleep apnea and should not be considered appropriate. Learn more here: https://sleep-doctor.com//oral-myofunctional-therapy-and-/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29fOg5eDe2c

Attention to those who would like to nerd out a little and learn more about drug-induced sleep endoscopy! I was involved in two programs available online discussing this evaluation technique for obstructive sleep apnea patients considering surgery. These were developed for residents in otolaryngology - head and neck surgery, meaning that they are doctors completing training in our field. Although they are designed for doctors, I find that many patients are so informed that they understand these presentations well. https://sleep-doctor.com//drug-induced-sleep-endoscopy-re/

Systematic reviews are performed and published in medical journals to combine studies on a topic and provide an answer to important questions for patient care. Unfortunately, in otolaryngology and my field of surgery for obstructive sleep apnea, published systematic reviews do not offer confidence in their results. https://sleep-doctor.com//systematic-reviews-in-sleep-sur/

A recent study suggests that drug-induced sleep endoscopy does not improve surgery outcomes in obstructive sleep apnea. I raised some concerns about the study, and the response did not clear things up. https://sleep-doctor.com//does-drug-induced-sleep-endosco/

I will be discussing Inspire Medical's Upper Airway Stimulation treatment for obstructive sleep apnea at a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, May 13 at 2 pm Pacific time. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us//register/WN_Btva07S7Q6mHZNSyNeJKBQ.

Join me today at 2 pm Pacific time for a community health talk discussing Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IkhR6WRFTuK8VCuQpqbi-g

Just as schools are closed and moving even more education online, there has been an expansion in online resources for patients. Join me on Thursday, April 23 at 2 pm Pacific time for a webinar discussing Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. https://zoom.us/j/588472548 and https://sleep-doctor.com//inspire-upper-airway-stimulatio/

The SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 illness are very real health crises. We have moved to telemedicine appointments and cancellation of all non-urgent/non-emergent care. We are scheduling telemedicine appointments. Is the development of telemedicine capabilities a good thing that can come of all this? https://sleep-doctor.com//telemedicine-in-the-world-of-sa/

We just completed our 26th Annual Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course in San Francisco, CA. https://sleep-doctor.com//advances-in-sleep-apnea-and-sno/

It was great to join Darshan Shah, MD and Kevin Peake of NextHealth for an episode of their FOREFRONT podcast devoted to sleep and sleep apnea. https://www.next-health.com/drerickezirian.html