Experts from University Hospitals and Johns Hopkins Lead Multidisciplinary Laryngoscopy Course at SLEEP 2026

Innovations in Pulmonology, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine | Summer 2026

This summer, experts from the University Hospitals Sleep Medicine Program and University Hospitals Ear, Nose & Throat Institute joined with colleagues from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to host a postgraduate, hands-on laryngoscopy workshop at SLEEP 2026 in Baltimore. This was the second year the course was offered, doubling the number of clinicians who participated during SLEEP 2025 in Seattle.

Susheel Patil, MD, PhD

N. Scott Howard, MD, MBA

Thomaz Fleury Curado, MD, PhD

“This year, we collaborated with two physicians from Johns Hopkins,” says Susheel Patil, MD, PhD, course director. Dr. Patil came to University Hospitals from Johns Hopkins and is Chief of Sleep Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, and Clinical Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Both Dr. Kevin Motz and Dr. Vasiliki Triantafilou bring dual expertise in sleep and laryngology and were intrigued by the opportunity to help non-ENT clinicians learn the basics of endoscopy.”

In attendance were sleep medicine specialists with different backgrounds (e.g., pulmonary, internal medicine, family medicine, neurology, psychiatry) who manage patients with sleep problems.

“University Hospitals is expanding how physicians approach airway evaluation, which has historically been confined to ENT,” says Dr. Patil, who is also a Clinical Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “By introducing laryngoscopy training, we hope to support better assessment of patients with obstructive sleep apnea and to share University Hospitals’ innovative educational methods with a national audience.”

University Hospitals experts who served as course leaders included:

• N. Scott Howard, MD, MBA, Director of the UH Voice, Airway and Swallowing Center and a Professor of Otolaryngology at the School of Medicine
• Thomaz Fleury Curado, MD, PhD, an Otolaryngologist and Sleep Surgeon in the UH Ear, Nose & Throat Institute and an Assistant Professor at the School of Medicine
• Alexandria (Lex) Rakowski, MS, CCC-SLP, a voice and swallowing expert who works with Dr. Howard and also recruited volunteers to serve as patients at the event.

“Disposable scopes, priced around $500, have significantly lowered the barrier to entry for these sleep providers, giving them high-quality imaging at a much lower upfront cost,” Dr. Howard says. “In contrast, the reusable scopes I use 30 times a day typically range from $10,000 to $15,000, making them a larger investment for many clinicians. We have an amazingly collaborative relationship among our sleep medicine colleagues, sleep surgeons, outside laryngologists and our speech pathologists. We are also very intentional about growing our practice to better manage these patients, and the best way to do that is to improve access to these tools.”

During the course, providers received interactive instruction and had the opportunity to scope mannequins and volunteers. Participants visualized the anatomy in two dimensions and gained greater appreciation for potential airway challenges that can cause obstruction or interfere with treatment. The idea for the course grew from interactions Dr. Patil had with Drs. Howard and Fleury.

“Dr. Patil refers many patients to our practice, and many require sleep surgery,” Dr. Fleury says. “Providing this type of training makes it easier for sleep medicine physicians to understand the anatomical basis for obstructive sleep apnea and the indications and contraindications for the different surgical interventions we offer.”

A greater understanding of airway anatomy is also helping practitioners provide effective follow-up, whether their patients are using continuous positive airway pressure or have an implanted device such as the Inspire upper airway stimulator.

Participants at the Multidisciplinary Laryngoscopy Course at SLEEP 2026.

“Frequently in sleep apnea care, we are recommending hypoglossal nerve stimulation, and our ENT colleagues perform the implantation,” Dr. Patil says. “As patients return to us for long-term management, if they are having difficulty achieving a successful outcome, the ability to perform laryngoscopy in the office setting while the nerve is stimulated can be very helpful. For clinicians who are a little more advanced and grounded in the basic elements of laryngoscopy, this could be an additional skill set to add to their armamentarium and be helpful in providing better patient care.”

For more information, contact the UH Sleep Medicine Program at 440-753-8675.

Contributing Experts: Susheel Patil, MD | N. Scott Howard, MD, MBA | Thomaz Fleury, MD, PhD