UH Otolaryngologist Recognized Nationally for Care of Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Innovations in Pulmonology, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine | Fall 2024

Kenneth Vito, MD, FACS, board-certified otolaryngologist at University Hospitals Ear, Nose & Throat Institute, and fellow of the American College of Surgeons, has received the Inspire Physicians Excellence Award for providing outstanding care to patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Kenneth Vito, MD FACS

Dr. Vito is only one of seven ENT physicians in Ohio who has ever received this recognition.

OSA is a global health problem, and its incidence increases with age. In the U.S., up to 17 percent of women and 30 percent of men meet the criteria for an OSA diagnosis. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most effective treatment for moderate to severe OSA when used properly.

“While CPAP is the gold standard for treating OSA, an estimated 40 to 60 percent of people who are prescribed CPAP fail or are noncompliant,” Dr. Vito says. “This is a huge population at risk, since untreated sleep apnea can lead to heart disease, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia, dementia and even death. UH now offers Inspire, a novel, mask-free therapy option to treat these patients. I’ve implanted Inspire in 150 people so far, and we’ve experienced about an 80 percent success rate in treating and curing OSA.

“The device, which is implanted on the chest wall in a one-hour surgery, measures when the patient breathes in and stimulates the tongue and soft palate to open,” he adds “Patients use a remote control to turn Inspire on at night and off during the day. We’ve been seeing outstanding results. Patients say Inspire is a game changer, they've never slept so well, and they feel great.” 

Inspire recognizes Providers of Excellence based on three criteria – physician expertise, patient experience and outcomes. Over the past year, Inspire has made the recognition criteria even more rigorous, and Dr. Vito is one of the early inductees with this new level of stringency.

Dr. Vito says that although he was recognized as a physician of excellence, it was really a team effort. “We have a terrific team at UH, and this recognition really reflects what’s going on across the UH system. We have multiple sleep medicine physicians and several implanters working together with a huge supporting cast. We are striving to make UH a global Center of Excellence for OSA care, something no other U.S. institution can currently claim.”

For more information about Inspire, contact Dr. Vito at 440-596-5840.

Contributing Expert:
Kenneth Vito, MD, FACS
Otolaryngologist
University Hospitals Ear, Nose & Throat Institute