Skip to main content
AAO-HNSF 2026 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.

Scientific Oral Presentation

Sleep Medicine

Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation Improves Sequelae of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Long-term Follow-up

Tuesday, October 20, 2026
8:12 AM - 8:18 AM PT
Location: 403B

    Presenting Author(s)

  • AB

    Atri Bhattacharyya, BA

    Medical Student
    UMass Medical School
    Worcester, MA, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • AM

    Aniket Maini, BS

    Medical Student
    UMass Chan Medical School
    Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

  • AL

    Andrew W. Liu, BA

    Medical Student
    UMass Chan Medical School
    Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

    • Senior Author(s)

  • CI

    Christopher J. Ito, MD, MEd

    Associate Professor; Director, Rhinology & Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery
    UMass Memorial Medical Center / UMass Chan Medical School
    Worcester, MA, United States

Disclosure(s):
Atri Bhattacharyya, BA:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Christopher J. Ito, MD, MEd:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent sleep disorder associated with significant long-term cardiovascular and cerebrovascular sequelae, yet large-scale population-level data evaluating whether OSA therapies mitigate these downstream outcomes are limited. This study aims to evaluate the association between hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HGNS) and the incidence of major long-term cardiovascular and cerebrovascular sequelae in patients with OSA.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using TriNetX, a multi-institutional electronic health record network. Adults (≥18 years) with a diagnosis of OSA were categorized into two groups: people who underwent HGNS procedure and people who never underwent the procedure. Follow-up extended up to 10 years from OSA diagnosis. Incidence of first-time diagnoses of cardiovascular and neurovascular diseases was measured. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated after propensity score matching for age, sex, race, BMI, tobacco use, and atherosclerotic heart disease.

Results: After matching, 6,251 patients were included in each cohort. HGNS was associated with significantly lower odds of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular sequelae after OSA diagnosis. Patients in the HGNS group had decreased odds of first-time myocardial infarction (OR 0.193, 95% CI 0.144-0.259), unstable angina (OR 0.181, 95% CI 0.112-0.291), atrial fibrillation (OR 0.185, 95% CI 0.147-0.232), atrial flutter (OR 0.212, 95% CI 0.148-0.305), other cardiac arrhythmias (OR 0.252, 95% CI 0.213-0.299), pulmonary hypertension (OR 0.167, 95% CI 0.124-0.226), heart failure (OR 0.146, 95% CI 0.117-0.181), transient ischemic attack (OR 0.371, 95% CI 0.276-0.499), and cerebral infarction (OR 0.341, 95% CI 0.261-0.445).

Conclusions: This large-scale, long-term analysis demonstrates an association between HGNS and reduced incidence of major cardiovascular and neurovascular outcomes following OSA diagnosis. These findings suggest that sustained treatment of OSA with HGNS may translate beyond symptomatic improvement to meaningful reductions in downstream morbidity.