World Sleep 2022 | Sleep surgery in OSA – Inspire upper airway stimulation

Nico de Vries, MD, PhD, OLVG West Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, delivers a lecture showcasing the benefits of upper airway stimulation in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This video focuses on the Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) system, an implantable hypoglossal nerve stimulator approved to treat moderate to severe OSA. Inspire was approved for this indication in 2014 after demonstrating clinically meaningful reductions in OSA symptoms and improvements in patient quality of life. The STAR trial (NCT01161420) was a multi-center, randomized controlled therapy withdrawal study evaluating safety and efficacy in patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea. The study showed that Inspire therapy improves OSA severity (reduction in AHI and ODI by 68% and 70%, respectively) and symptoms (patient-reported improvement in QOL and reduction in sleepiness) that was stable for 60 months. ADHERE (NCT02907398) is a multi-center, prospective, observational registry that has so far demonstrated comparable efficacy across five subgroups of patients, including previously excluded patients with higher disease severity (AHI of 50+) and those with a BMI higher than 32. Overall reduction of AHI (33 to 7) and compliance was similar across groups and higher than CPAP compliance, with 90% preferring the implant device to standard CPAP therapy. This interview took place at the World Sleep Congress 2022 in Rome, Italy.