Antrochoanal polyps were first documented in the 18th century. They represent one of the most common types of nasal polyps in children without cystic fibrosis. Only a few reports on children who had a history of snoring due to an antrochoanal polyp and only two cases where the antrochoanal polyp caused documented obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) have been published so far. This report adds a third case of paediatric OSA induced by an antrochoanal polyp in a 12-year-old boy. After endonasal endoscopically-controlled polypectomy and a recurrence, transoral osteoplastic antrotomy in combination with endoscopic endonasal polypectomy eliminated the antrochoanal polyp and OSA was resolved. The authors have reviewed essential historical aspects about children suffering from snoring and/or OSA caused by an antrochoanal polyp.

Moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea is usually associated with multiple levels of pharyngeal airway collapse, including tongue base obstruction. A new technique has recently been introduced that improves the nocturnal retro-lingual airway. This study was a prospective, non-randomized single-institution evaluation of a recently introduced surgical technique. Nineteen consecutive patients with previously untreated moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea underwent tongue suspension using the Respose™ system and concomitant palatopharyngoplasty (multilevel pharyngeal surgery). The patient demographics and treatment outcomes were prospectively collected and retrospectively analysed.

There were 16 men and three women, with a mean (±SD) age of 44.9 years (±14.2) and a mean pre-operative apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) of 42.8 ± 24.8. Twelve of the 19 patients (63.2 per cent) have had post-operative polysomnography; eight of these 12 (67 per cent) met the standard criteria for surgical response. Among these eight patients, the AHI improved from 32.4 to 14.4 (p < 0.01); the individual scores fell by a mean of 51.7 per cent. The apnoea index improved from 7.4 to 0.9 (p < 0.01), with the individual scores falling by a mean of 81.4 per cent. There was anatomic and radiographic evidence of multilevel upper airway enlargement. Notably, the body mass index remained essentially unchanged (31.5 ± 7.2 to 31.2 ± 7.6, p > 0.5). Subjectively, the mean Epworth sleepiness scale score fell from 11.0 ± 5.4 to 5.4 ± 3.8 (p < 0.005). Four patients suffered transient velopharyngeal insufficiency, and two patients complained of limited anterior excursion of the tongue. There were no serious, long-term complications.

The tongue suspension procedure represents a minimally invasive technique for improving the nocturnal retro-lingual airway in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. It is easily performed by otolaryngologists, distinguishing it from other established techniques designed to address tongue base obstruction.

Forty children (age group four to 12 years) undergoing adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy were subjected to pre- and post-operative polysomnography. Thorough clinical evaluation and X-ray soft tissue nasopharynx lateral view was carried out for all the patients. The tonsils were clinically graded from grade I to IV, whereas the adenoids were measured radiographically (using three different measurements) in all children. Thirty out of 40 (75 per cent) children presented with predominant obstructive symptoms, out of whom 22 (73.3 per cent) were found to have obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), i.e. apnoea index > five per hour. The remaining 10 (25 per cent) had predominantly inflammatory symptoms on presentation and out of these two (20 per cent) were found to have OSA. Relative adenoid size expressed as a ratio between the distance from the point of maximum thickness of adenoids along a line drawn along a straight part of the basiocciput and distance from the posterior nasal spine to the antero-inferior edge of the spheno-basioccipital synchondrosis, was found to have a highly significant correlation with the grade of OSA. In our study, all patients with this ratio greater than 0.64 were found to have OSA. No correlation between tonsil size and grade of OSA was found. There was a highly significant improvement in polysomnographic scores following surgery in all patients.