Sleep Disorders Center
The Center for Sleep Disorders provides a comprehensive approach to diagnosing and treating adult and pediatric sleep problems, including snoring, sleep apnea and narcolepsy. The multidisciplinary team of sleep specialists includes neurologists, pulmonologists, otolaryngologists and oral/maxillofacial surgeons. Sleep studies (called polysomnography) are sometimes needed for evaluation of problems such as sleep-related epilepsy, periodic limb movement disorders and parasomnia.
Patients are evaluated in comfortable, homelike private bedroom that is equipped with electronic devices for monitoring the patient’s physiological processes and an ultraviolet closed-circuit TV monitor for observing the patient’s sleep. Board-certified sleep technologists perform the study. A written and graphical report with findings and recommendations for treatment is prepared by the neurologist and forwarded to the referring physician.
Patients with snoring problems and sleep apnea are assessed and the best possible treatment determined. Multiple sleep latency tests also may be performed during the day to confirm the presence of daytime sleepiness and to diagnose narcolepsy.
Treatments available include:
- Continuous positive airway pressure device or nasal CPAP
- Corrective laser procedure
- Laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty or LAUP
- Pillar® procedure
- Surgery
Loyola was the first in the Midwest to introduce LAUP, a simple and effective treatment for snoring and sleep apnea. The procedure can be performed in two to four sessions on an outpatient basis. A laser is used to trim the soft palate, or uvula, and occasionally some tonsillar tissue. It is less costly and less painful than traditional surgery for sleep apnea. The treatment is so popular, that Loyola physicians have taught the procedure to hundreds of physicians nationwide.
The Pillar® procedure uses three matchstick-sized polyester “pillars” that are inserted into the roof of the mouth. The pillars stabilize the tissues in the mouth and throat, which reduces vibration. Patients do not feel the pillars. Talking and swallowing are not affected. The procedure also is FDA-approved for obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type of sleep apnea, where breathing stops hundreds of times each night because relaxed fatty tissues in the mouth and throat block air flow.
Loyola’s Center for Sleep Disorders has been accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
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For an appointment or for more information about Sleep Disorders Center, call (888) LUHS-888.