UK Gives Severe Sleep Apnoea Patient 1st HGNS Implant as CPAP Fails Some Cases
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jul 15
UK Gives Severe Sleep Apnoea Patient 1st HGNS Implant as CPAP Fails Some Cases
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jul 15
Summary
Great Western Hospital fitted Catherine Turnbull with one of the first UK hypoglossal nerve stimulation implants after she could not tolerate CPAP for severe sleep apnoea.
125,000 people worldwide have had the surgery, which implants a chest generator linked to a nerve that moves the tongue forward to keep the airway open during sleep.
Turnbull said the device stopped her night waking and headaches after years of exhaustion that left her dozing at work and dreading bedtime.
Five UK trusts now offer HGNS, but Swindon surgeon Joseph Sinnott said only a few Wiltshire patients a month will qualify under strict criteria for extreme cases.
Sleep apnoea can make patients stop breathing about 100 times a night, and nurses said it is often missed in women because symptoms are blamed on menopause, stress or childcare.