Presentation
History of sleep apnea.
Patient Data
On the chest radiograph, the Inspire device battery pack overlies the right upper chest. A lead to the tongue base extends upward toward the neck, out of the field of view and can be seen on the lateral radiograph of the neck. A lead also extends inferiorly and overlies the lower right chest wall.
The patient also has a left-sided transvenous pacemaker.
The green arrow points to the lead that extends toward the base of the tongue.
The red arrow indicates the lead on the chest wall that monitors the patient's respiration.
The orange arrow shows the lead overlying the tongue base.
Case Discussion
An Inspire device is present on this patient's radiographs. This device is a therapy for sleep apnea: the inferior lead contact the patient's chest wall and monitors for respiration; the superior lead contacts the base of the tongue. When inspiration occurs, an electrical stimulus is sent to the base of the tongue, pushing it out of the airway and preventing sleep apnea.
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