Novel Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation Procedure Helps Sleep Apnea Patients Breathe Easier
Clinicians at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are using hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS) to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients who struggle to tolerate the first-line therapy, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). The Brigham is a leader in using the novel procedure, which involves surgically implanting a device in patients to relieve apnea episodes. HNS offers hope to those with OSA who are intolerant to CPAP.
In 2011, Brigham and Women’s Hospital made headlines as the site of the nation’s first full face transplant. In July 2019, the Brigham set another milestone with the world’s first full face transplant procedure on a black patient and the oldest recipient ever. It was the ninth face transplant at the Brigham and the 15th nationwide.
Oral cancers account for about two percent of all malignancies and 1.2 percent of cancer-associated deaths. If oral cancer is caught early, the five-year survival rate is 82.8 percent. Once the cancer metastasizes, that rate drops to 28 percent.
For decades, the medical and scientific community has looked for ways to repair damaged vocal cords through injectable agents. Current best practices involve the use of carboxymethylcellulose, hyaluronic acid or calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA). However, these injectable agents do not provide permanent effects and typically carry the additional burden of requiring two people to perform the medialization procedure, thus adding to their cost.
Face transplants are still infrequent enough that every one of them is considered a remarkable feat of medical collaboration and expertise. However, they no longer garner the news headlines that the first transplant did when it was performed in France in 2005.
The expertise of the physicians and surgeons at Brigham and Women’s Hospital benefits patients well beyond New England. Through 
