NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., October 25, 2018 — Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag is the first in Orange County to offer a new, cutting-edge treatment option for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation therapy is the first implantable device for treating OSA.
“At Hoag, we are always looking for state-of-the-art treatment options to benefit our patients,” said Jay Puangco, M.D., service chief at the Judy & Richard Voltmer Sleep Center at Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag. “The Inspire therapy is clinically proven to reduce sleep apnea events allowing our patients to get a more restful night’s sleep.”
More than 18 million Americans have sleep apnea. Depending on the degree of severity, OSA can be a potentially life-threatening condition. Research shows that a person with poorly managed sleep apnea is at increased risk for heart attack, stroke, weight gain, high blood pressure and heart failure. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for sleep apnea, however studies show that roughly half of all patients that start CPAP eventually become non-compliant. A recent study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that hospital readmission rates, for all causes including cardiovascular and pulmonary, in patients with OSA were more than double for those who did not adhere to their CPAP therapy.
In contrast to CPAP, Inspire therapy works with a patient’s natural breathing process. The implantable system includes a small generator, a sensing lead and a stimulation lead. Turned on by a handheld remote, it delivers mild stimulation to key airway muscles, which keeps the airway open during sleep.
“This innovative therapy represents a significant advance in sleep apnea treatment and is life-changing for some of our patients who are unable to use CPAP,” said Ahmed El-Bershawi, M.D., board certified sleep specialist and service chief at Hoag Sleep Center Irvine.
Hoag Sleep Health Program has been studying and treating more than 5,000 patients with sleep disorders annually for the last 20 years. Hoag’s Sleep Centers in Newport Beach and Irvine offer patients access to board certified sleep specialists, registered polysomnographic technologists, bedroom labs, outpatient facilities and advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies.
For more information about Hoag Sleep Health Program, visit hoag.org/sleep.
ABOUT HOAG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PRESBYTERIAN
Hoag is an approximately $1 billion nonprofit, regional health care delivery network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 30,000 inpatients and 425,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals – Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which opened in 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010 – in addition to eight health centers and 11 urgent care centers. Hoag is a designated Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women’s health, and orthopedics through Hoag’s affiliate, Hoag Orthopedic Institute, which consists of an orthopedic hospital and two ambulatory surgical centers. In 2013, Hoag entered into an alliance with St. Joseph Health to further expand health care services in the Orange County community, known as St. Joseph Hoag Health. Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the 2018 – 2019 U.S. News & World Report, and Becker’s Healthcare named Hoag as one of the 2018 “100 Great Hospitals in America” – a designation Hoag has received five times. For an unprecedented 23 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as one of the county’s best hospitals in a local newspaper survey. Visit www.hoag.org for more information.
ABOUT THE PICKUP FAMILY NEUROSCIENCES INSTITUTE
Delivering a personalized, integrated approach using best-practice guidelines, the most advanced technology, and integration of medical specialists in the most appropriate facilities, the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute (PFNI) at Hoag provides the highest quality care for patients with brain and spine disorders including stroke, aneurysms and vascular malformations, brain tumors, epilepsy, movement disorders, memory and cognitive disorders, pain, minimally invasive spine surgery, multiple sclerosis, addiction medicine and sleep disorders, as well as the mind-body interface of behavioral health. Several of Hoag’s PFNI programs have received high acclaim, including the stroke program at Hoag, which was the first hospital in Orange County and the second in California to be named a Certified Comprehensive Stroke Center by DNV GL Healthcare. It was awarded the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement for stroke care. And as one of the first centers in the U.S. to offer the most advanced radiosurgical treatment system available, Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, Hoag’s brain tumor program is the largest in Orange County and is also among the top volume programs in the western United States. The epilepsy program is an accredited Level 3 center. The PFNI’s memory and cognitive disorders program is nationally recognized.
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