ORL-HNSUK ENT Reference

Notes Curriculum Q Bank Viva Bank Consent Op Notes Guidelines Articles

Notes Review Q Bank Viva

Topics

·

Deviated Nasal Septum and Septoplasty
Osteoma
Snoring and Upper Airway Resistance
Vasomotor Rhinitis

Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder and Auditory Processing Disorder38

Management of the Hearing-Impaired Child19
Paediatric Hearing Loss1

·

Deviated Nasal Septum and Septoplasty
Osteoma
Snoring and Upper Airway Resistance
Vasomotor Rhinitis

Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder and Auditory Processing Disorder38

Management of the Hearing-Impaired Child19
Paediatric Hearing Loss1

Sign in to track your progress and access the full question bank.

Educational use only. Educational use only. This content is not a substitute for professional clinical judgement. Always follow local guidelines, trust policies, and consult senior colleagues when in doubt.

HomeNotesSnoring and Upper Airway Resistance

Rhinology

Snoring and Upper Airway Resistance

Area overview →

~5 min read

·

In this note

Physics of Airway Resistance and Snoring Snoring Noise (Stertor) Versus Other Airway Sounds The Sleep-Disordered Breathing Spectrum Paediatric Sleep-Disordered Breathing Related Obstruction Disorders Cardiovascular Consequences at the OSAS End Endocrine, Inflammatory and Immune Effects

Next in Rhinology

Vasomotor Rhinitis Deviated Nasal Septum and Septoplasty Osteoma

Key points

1Airway resistance varies inversely with the fourth power of the radius, so even modest narrowing has a disproportionate effect: halving the airway diameter multiplies resistance sixteen-fold.
2Snoring is technically stertor, a low-pitched noise arising from obstruction at the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal level, distinguishing it from sounds generated lower in the airway.
3A primary snorer is someone who snores without any significant apnoeas or hypopnoeas, placing them at the benign end of the obstruction-disorder spectrum.
4Paediatric sleep-disordered breathing is defined as an abnormal respiratory pattern during sleep encompassing snoring, mouth breathing, and pauses in breathing.
5Overlap syndrome is the coexistence of obstructive sleep apnoea with COPD, where the reduced baseline PaO2 and ventilation-perfusion mismatch produce exaggerated desaturations during apnoeas, more pulmonary hypertension, and higher mortality than COPD alone.
6Obstructive sleep apnoea raises sympathetic tone, shortens the R-R interval to produce tachycardia, and increases blood pressure variability with raised afterload and endothelin.
7OSAS produces a characteristic endocrine profile of raised C-reactive protein, serum amyloid and cortisol, with reduced growth hormone and prolactin.
8Mortality from OSAS is lower in the elderly, attributed to compensation, although these patients still experience sleepiness, nocturia and sleep disruption that improve with CPAP.