CPAP Cyst

Abstract

To the Editor: Nasal continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) is a standard treatment for the sleep apnea syndrome1. The reported side effects are not major: nasal dryness, epistaxis, extension of respiratory infections to the middle ear or sinuses, and allergic reactions to the mask1–4. We describe a patient in whom a thyroglossal cyst developed shortly after nasal CPAP was begun. A 56-year-old woman with a long history of diurnal hypersomnolence, respiratory pauses during sleep, and loud snoring was found to have obstructive sleep apnea syndrome on polysomnography. She had 90 episodes of apnea or hypopnea per hour… © 1993, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.