AASM Membership Sections Newsletter Issue #3
25
Kathe G. Henke, PhD
Dr. Henke is the Laboratory Director of
the Sleep Disorders Center of Virginia
in Richmond, VA and is board-certified
in Clinical Sleep Medicine (ABSM). She
earned her PhD from the University
of Wisconsin focusing on respiratory
physiology of sleep and exercise. She
performed her post-doctoral training in
Sydney University’s Pulmonary and Sleep
Department. Her research interest has
been in the area of control of breathing
and respiratory muscle activity during
sleep. Dr. Henke is a Clinical Associate
in the Department of Internal Medicine
at the Medical College of Virginia. She
has served on the board of the American
Sleep Apnea Association for 20 years.
She is President of the Virginia Academy
of Sleep Medicine and has served; as an
AASM representative and Chair of the
CoA PSG; the AASM Accreditation Com-
mittee and also served as a site visitor.
Kin M. Yuen, MD, MS
Dr. Kin M. Yuen, a Diplomate of the
American Board of Sleep Medicine,
is an adjunct teaching faculty for the
Stanford Sleep Disorders Center. She has
been medical director /sleep specialist in
private practice in Northern California
for over a decade. Before spending two
years in a research fellowship at Stanford
Sleep Disorders Center, she practiced in
Internal Medicine for the Stanford Medi-
cal Group before obtaining her Masters
degree in Health Services Research/
Health Policy from Stanford University.
Her interests are health economics, sleep
issues and their relationship to women
and obesity. Her biggest joy is spending
time with her two teenage children.
Bios for Drs. Woodson and Subramanian
were not available at time of publication.
Steering Committee Profiles
continued
Directors. Your committee and section members will also be assist-
ing the AASM this year in its complex initiative to develop compre-
hensive process and outcome metrics for obstructive sleep apnea.
As the field has shifted to a stronger emphasis on treatment and its
effectiveness, such metrics may improve patient care and are critical
to demonstrate sleep specialists’ value to our patients, government
entities and private payers.
Your section’s committee members—Kathe G. Henke, PhD;
Ofer Jacobowitz, MD, PhD; Shyam Subramanian, MD; Tucker
Woodson, MD; and Kin M. Yuen, MD—would welcome your
sharing with us any issues that are important to you. Please con-
tact us at
or at our individual email
addresses. You may also engage us and other section members
through the AASM website’s discussion forums and via the AASM’s
LinkedIn group.
We invite you to come join us at the section meeting
in Baltimore!
Case Report
A 35-year-old male non-commercial flight pilot fractured his girl-
friend’s ribs in the middle of the night several weeks ago. His girl-
friend reported some awakenings during the night in the past few
years, when he would sit up, “looked around” without recognizing
her, and would fall back to sleep. Except for the look of fear, there
were no autonomic signs or screams. She has had some heavier
breathing and occasional snoring after having a couple of alcoholic
drinks. He recalled vaguely that he was trying to protect his girl-
friend during the episode. He could not recall any other details.
Neither party could pinpoint the timing of the event(s).
His usual sleep schedule is 11pm to 6 or 7am. He had no nasal
allergies and takes no medications except for occasional multiple
vitamin. He has not suffered any head trauma or concussion. His
family reported 2 episodes of childhood somnambulism that had
not resulted in any injury. When he hunts during the weekends, de-
parture is about 4am. His family had no history of automatic behav-
ior, but his father had intermittently snored the past few years.
The patient did not obtain enough sleep before his sleep study.
His nocturnal polysomnogram with lights out at 23:24 hours, lights
on at 06:18 hours. His sleep efficiency was 96.7%. Sleep onset laten-
cy was 4.2 minutes, and REM latency was 20.5 minutes. Total REM