[Surgical treatment of severe sleep apnea syndrome by maxillomandibular advancing or mental tranposition].

Surgery of the facial skeleton or the tongue may be envisaged in case of failure of continuous positive pressure ventilation for severe sleep apnea syndrome defined by a apnea-hyponea index greater than 30/h. We present here our results in patients treated by maxillo-mandibular advancing and mental transposition. We define the surgical indications. Between January 1993 and June 1997, 41 patients, mean age 49 years, with severe sleep apnea syndrome (mean apnea-hyponea index =58.5/h) were treated by maxillo-mandibular advancing (21 cases) or mental transposition (20 cases) depending on the cephalometric work-up including lateral teleradiography and sagittal magnetic resonance imaging of the tongue. Functional outcome was good in both groups. Objective success (postoperative apnea-hyponea index <20) was 70.5 % after bimaxillary advancing (mean apnea-hypopnea index =17), but only 25 % after mental transposition (mean apnea-hyponea index =44.5). Maxillomandibular advancing is a major procedure which can be effective in sleep apnea patients with severe craniofacial skeletal anomalies. Its applications in apneic patients with no skeletal anomaly remains a subject of debate. Conversely, there would appear to be very few indications for mental transposition.