Nasal and oral snoring endoscopy: novel and promising diagnostic tools in OSAS patients

The aim of the present study was to investigate if any of the three awake procedures [fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopy with modified Müller Maneuver (FNMM), nasal snoring endoscopy (NSE), or oral snoring endoscopy (OSE)] could efficiently predict the grade or pattern of upper airway (UA) collapse found with drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE), which is considered by many authors as the current gold standard in optimizing obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) patient selection for UA surgery. Twenty consecutive patients (simple snorers and OSAS patients) were studied with FNMM, NSE, OSE, and DISE. The inter-test agreement was evaluated with Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κ). In the current series, we found that NSE and OSE were better than FNMM in predicting the pattern of collapse found with DISE. A significant pattern agreement between NSE and DISE was present in all sub-sites, and the agreement was measured with a scale proposed by Landis and Koch as: moderate in velo- and oropharynx (κ = 0.52, p = 0.001, and κ = 0.47, p = 0.003, respectively), and substantial in hypopharynx (κ = 0.63, p < 0.00001). Comparing OSE with DISE, the pattern agreement was almost perfect at oropharyngeal level (κ = 0.82, p < 0.00001), and moderate at hypopharyngeal level (κ = 0.55, p = 0.0002); while a trend towards significance was found at velopharyngeal level (κ = 0.20, p = 0.07). FNMM showed a fair pattern agreement with DISE only at oropharyngeal level (κ = 0.31, p = 0.009); while in the other sub-sites, no significant agreement was found. NSE and OSE are new promising diagnostic tools in OSAS patients. Further investigations are needed to see if they could predict the effectiveness of UA surgery.