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Ridgewood NJ, Valley is the Among the First in the New York Metro Region to Offer a Breakthrough Treatment for Central Sleep Apnea with Newly Approved Device
The Valley Hospital is one of only two sites in New Jersey and the tri-state area currently using a new implantable device to treat adult patients with central sleep apnea.
Central sleep apnea is a serious condition in which a person’s sleep is interrupted because the brain does not send proper signals to the diaphragm during sleep, causing lapses in breathing.
The remedē® System, approved by the FDA in 2017, is a pacemaker-like device that is placed under the skin in the upper chest area during a minimally invasive outpatient procedure.
It treats central sleep apnea by activating a nerve located in the chest that stimulates breathing. The system monitors the patient’s breathing during sleep and if irregular breathing is detected, it stimulates the nerve to move the diaphragm and restore normal breathing.
“The new remedē® System provides physicians with an innovative therapy for patients with moderate to severe central sleep apnea,” said Dr. Suneet Mittal, Director of Electrophysiology at Valley and Medical Director of Valley’s Snyder Center for Comprehensive Atrial Fibrillation. “This therapy has been proven to reduce the number of sleep apnea events, which will improve patients’ quality of life and overall cardiovascular health.”
Dr. Mittal and cardiac electrophysiologist Dr. Dan Musat performed the first remedē® procedures at Valley, in consultation with a multidisciplinary team that included heart failure specialist Dr. Kariann Abbate, and Dr. Jeffrey Barasch, Medical Director of The Valley Hospital Center for Sleep Medicine.
Central sleep apnea causes significant drops in night-time blood oxygen levels and disrupted sleep, with significant impairment in cardiac function and daytime performance. The condition is different from the more well known obstructive sleep apnea, in which breathing disruptions occur when the throat muscles intermittently relax and block the airway during sleep.
Until this new development, central sleep apnea has been difficult to treat, frequently resistant to medical therapy and unresponsive to CPAP, the usual therapy for obstructive sleep apnea.
“Treatment for this particular type of sleep apnea has been a significant challenge over the years,” said Dr. Barasch. “We believe that his new technology is a major step forward that will enable us to treat these patients much more effectively.”
The remedē® System is produced by Respicardia Inc., based in Minneapolis, Minn.
To make an appointment for a consultation to see if you are a candidate for the remedē® System, please call 201-447-8392.
Do what I do, I get up and go into the guestroom.
My CPAP machine works like a charm. Any elective surgery, even the most simple outpatient surgery, comes with risks that should not be taken unless your life is in jeopardy. Get a CPAP machine if you have sleep apnea. They’re completely non invasive and work like a charm.
I thought it was fat lazy slobs who had sleep apena, not normal healthy fit people. Am I wrong. Oh , it’s probably most but not all apnea people are fat lazy slobs who raise medical premiums for the rest of us.
That’s funny but no it could be anybody .
Risk factors for sleep apena from Mayo Clinic Website:
Being a fat lazy slob and increasing medical costs for everyone else is the first risk factor. Read as follows:
Risk factors
Sleep apnea can affect anyone, even children. But certain factors increase your risk.
Obstructive sleep apnea
Factors that increase the risk of this form of sleep apnea include:
Excess weight. Obesity greatly increases the risk of sleep apnea. Fat deposits around your upper airway can obstruct your breathing.
Neck circumference. People with thicker necks might have narrower airways.
A narrowed airway. You might have inherited a narrow throat. Tonsils or adenoids also can enlarge and block the airway, particularly in children.
Being male. Men are two to three times more likely to have sleep apnea than are women. However, women increase their risk if they’re overweight, and their risk also appears to rise after menopause.
Being older. Sleep apnea occurs significantly more often in older adults.
Family history. Having family members with sleep apnea might increase your risk.
Use of alcohol, sedatives or tranquilizers. These substances relax the muscles in your throat, which can worsen obstructive sleep apnea.
Smoking. Smokers are three times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea than are people who’ve never smoked. Smoking can increase the amount of inflammation and fluid retention in the upper airway.
Nasal congestion. If you have difficulty breathing through your nose — whether from an anatomical problem or allergies — you’