Diso ep rde le rs S f & o T l h a e n r r a u p Hirata and Satoh, J Sleep Disord Ther 2015, 4:4 o y Journal of Sleep Disorders & Therapy J DOI: 10.4172/2167-0277.1000207 ISSN: 2167-0277 Research Article Open Access Pilot Study of a Nasal Airway Stent for the Treatment on Obstructive Sleep Apnea Yumi Hirata1* and Makoto Satoh2,3* 1Division of Sleep Medicine, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan 2International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Japan 3Ibaraki Prefectural Center for Sleep Medicine and Sciences, Japan *Corresponding author: Makoto Satoh and Yumi Hirata, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan, Tel: +81 29 853 5643, fax: +81 29 853 5643; E-mail:
[email protected],
[email protected] Received date: May 26, 2015, Accepted date: Jun 27 2015, Published date: Jul 05, 2015 Copyright: © 2015 Hirata Y, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Study background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disease characterized by repetitive upper airway obstruction during sleep. OSA is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been established as a standard therapy for OSA, but it is not always tolerated by OSA patients. Objective: In a pilot study, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of the nasal airway stent (NAS), a new nasopharyngeal device placed in the nasopharynx, on OSA and snoring.