The first Adult Sleep Clinical Core Curriculum session will highlight how sleep disorders often present atypically in individuals with comorbid conditions and may be overlooked by clinicians.
The session takes place from 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 17, in Room W311E (Level III, OCCC West Concourse).
Co-Chair Michelle Zeidler, MD, says it’s important that clinicians investigate beyond the standard phenotype in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). “We need to think about sleep disorders in patients with various comorbidities and how they present differently and need to be treated differently.” Dr. Zeidler is a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, directs the Sleep Disorders Center at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, and serves as the Sleep Fellowship Program Director at UCLA.
The themes for the Sunday’s session include:
- OSA, pulmonary hypertension, and interstitial lung disease
- OSA and cardiovascular disease
- COMISA (OSA and insomnia)
“We often look at sleepiness, such as the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, to assess if individuals may have sleep apnea; that works very well in the classic OSA phenotypes,” Dr. Zeidler noted. “But these patients may present with more sympathetic hyperarousal, and although they are fatigued, they can’t sleep well, and they don’t fall asleep during the day.”
Series Co-Chair Katherine Dudley, MD, MPH, said that the interaction and interplay between other disease states — or even stages of life — and sleep apnea are among the challenges many providers face. “A lot of times we think about these conditions separately, but we need to create a cohesive management plan that incorporates both and considers them as coexisting processes.” Dr. Dudley is an instructor at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital
A question-and-discussion period will follow the presentation.
The Adult Sleep Clinical Core Curriculum continues on Monday, May 18, at the same time and location as the first session.
The objectives of the Adult Sleep Clinical Core Curriculum Symposia are to integrate new sleep medicine guidelines into clinical practice, equip clinicians to better counsel patients on available treatment options for sleep-disordered breathing, and identify knowledge gaps in the treatment of patients with sleep-related disorders.
The ATS Clinical Core Curriculum Symposia focus on key topics in the areas of adult and pediatric pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. The topics are aligned with corresponding Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Medical Knowledge modules and designed to help clinicians stay up to date with important information relevant to their medical practices and to provide an opportunity for clinicians to evaluate their knowledge and skills while earning MOC Medical Knowledge points.
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ATS NOW offers conference highlights, peer-reviewed sessions, and access to leading experts in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. ATS 2026 attendees receive complimentary access to the platform through the rest of the calendar year!