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Medicina
Special Issues
Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
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Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

A special issue of Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144). This special issue belongs to the section "Pulmonology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2026 | Viewed by 369

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Goran Račić

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Split University Hospital Centre, 21000 Split, Croatia
Interests: sleep disorders; tonsillectomy; sleep apnea
Prof. Dr. Željka Roje

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Private Practice Otorhinolaryngology, 21000 Split, Croatia
Interests: sleep disordered breathing; ENT; pediatrics; minimally invasive surgery for SDB
Dr. Zlatko Kljajic

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Split, R. Boskovica 37, 21000 Split, Croatia
Interests: obstructive sleep apnea; ENT; pediatrics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a complex disorder with a multifactorial and incompletely understood etiology. It is a part of the syndrome of sleep-disordered breathing, characterized by increasing limitation of airflow through the upper airways, sometimes resulting in complete obstruction of the airway.

Although there are various diagnostic options, questionnaires, and feasibility studies available to assess clinical parameters in diagnosing OSA and determining the severity of the disease, overnight polysomnography represents the gold standard in diagnosing OSA.

OSA is present in both adult and pediatric populations, and it has specific characteristics regarding the etiology of the disease and treatment modalities.

In adults, treatment for OSA most often involves multi-level surgery and CPAP treatment.

In children, a large percentage of OSA cases are resolved with surgery, tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.

This Special Issue will provide a comprehensive overview of all diagnostic and therapeutic options for treating OSA in both adults and children, as well as the latest research findings in this area. Our goal is to compile the most recent insights into the diagnosis and treatment.

Prof. Dr. Goran Račić
Prof. Dr. Željka Roje
Guest Editors

Dr. Zlatko Kljajic
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • obstructive sleep apnea
  • polysomnography
  • obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis
  • obstructive sleep apnea treatment
  • obstructive sleep apnea etiology
  • obstructive sleep apnea complications
  • adult OSA
  • pediatric OSA

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1850 KB  
Article
Continuous Monitoring of Positive Airway Pressure Therapy with a Smartphone-Based Home Sleep Apnea Test
by Sungjin Heo, Seunghun Kim, Sungeun Moon, Sujin Lee, Dongheon Lee, Joonki Hong, Yoo-Sam Chung, Hyun Jik Kim, Jung Kyung Hong, In-Young Yoon and Jeong-Whun Kim
Medicina 2026, 62(6), 1008; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina62061008 - 22 May 2026
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) is often suboptimal, and current monitoring relies on device logs that, by design, cannot detect respiratory events outside the therapy window. This creates a physiological blind spot during periods of non-usage. This study [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) is often suboptimal, and current monitoring relies on device logs that, by design, cannot detect respiratory events outside the therapy window. This creates a physiological blind spot during periods of non-usage. This study aimed to demonstrate the clinical necessity of independent, continuous monitoring using a smartphone-based home sleep apnea test (S-HSAT) by validating treatment effectiveness on adherent nights and quantifying the untreated apnea burden caused by partial adherence. Methods: We prospectively monitored 63 obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients commencing PAP therapy. Nightly apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) and usage time were recorded simultaneously by an S-HSAT (ApnoTrack) and the PAP device over a 30-day period. Nights were categorized by the duration discrepancy between S-HSAT and PAP (full-use, ≤5 min; intermediate-use, 5–30 min; partial-use, >30 min) using physiologically and operationally derived thresholds. Results: Final analysis included 39 participants contributing 667 nights (24 participants excluded due to non-use of one or both devices). Full-use nights (46.2%) showed close agreement between S-HSAT and PAP mean AHI (2.8 ± 4.3 vs. 2.5 ± 2.0 events/h; p = 0.13). On intermediate-use and partial-use nights (20.7% and 33.1%, respectively), substantial AHI discrepancies emerged (7.3 ± 5.5 vs. 3.8 ± 3.3 and 11.0 ± 7.4 vs. 2.8 ± 2.5 events/h, respectively; both p < 0.001). Conclusions: Independent S-HSAT monitoring quantified an untreated apnea burden that is invisible to PAP logs alone, while confirming therapeutic efficacy on well-adherent nights. These findings suggest that continuous independent monitoring may help bridge the gap between prescribed therapy and actual physiological outcomes in OSA care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea)
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13 pages, 308 KB  
Article
Optimizing Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Comparative Assessment of STOP and STOP-BANG Questionnaires in Croatia, Türkiye, and Greece
by Ivana Pavlinac Dodig, Renata Pecotic, Natalija Ivkovic, Linda Lusic Kalcina, Özen K. Basoglu, Athanasia Pataka, Mehmet Sezai Tasbakan, Serapheim Kotoulas and Zoran Dogas
Medicina 2026, 62(5), 1002; https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina62051002 - 21 May 2026
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder associated with significant cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurocognitive consequences. The STOP and STOP-BANG questionnaires are widely used screening tools for identifying individuals at increased risk of OSA. However, their performance may vary [...] Read more.
Background and Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder associated with significant cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurocognitive consequences. The STOP and STOP-BANG questionnaires are widely used screening tools for identifying individuals at increased risk of OSA. However, their performance may vary across populations. This variability is due to demographic and anthropometric differences. We aimed to analyze the screening accuracy of the STOP and STOP-BANG questionnaires across three distinct Mediterranean populations: Croatia, Greece, and Türkiye. Additionally, we aimed to optimize and establish population-specific cut-off points for body mass index (BMI) and neck circumference (NC) in the questionnaires to enhance their screening accuracy. Materials and Methods: A total of 9102 patients who underwent polysomnography or polygraphy to evaluate suspected OSA were enrolled from: Split Sleep Medicine Centre (Croatia), Ege University Faculty of Medicine (Türkiye), and Thessaloniki G Papanikolaou Hospital Aristotle University (Greece). Patients completed the STOP and STOP-BANG questionnaires before sleep assessments. Sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) were calculated to assess the screening properties. Additionally, optimized cut-offs for age, NC, and BMI were determined. Results: The highest AUC values were observed using the STOP-BANG ≥ 5 method, with AUC values of 0.712 for detecting any OSA (AHI ≥ 5/h), 0.684 for moderate or severe OSA (AHI ≥ 15/h), and 0.663 for severe OSA (AHI ≥ 30/h). For individual centers, the STOP-BANG ≥ 5 method performed best in Split, while the STOP ≥ 2 + NC method yielded the highest AUCs in Izmir and Thessaloniki for moderate and severe OSA. Optimized cut-off values for age, NC, and BMI improved sensitivity and specificity across all centers. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for population-specific considerations in the screening for OSA. Significant differences in demographics, anthropometrics, symptoms, and comorbidities across populations could impact the questionnaire’s screening accuracy. Adjusting age, NC, and BMI cut-off points optimizes the STOP-BANG questionnaire. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea)
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