Jay K wrote:Barry, How do the overall AHI numbers compare between the Autoset II and your new machine? In another thread I just started (having to do with puzzling AHI numbers I obtained from a Resmed Autoset II and a newly-acquired Respironics System One) I noted that in my case the AHIs reported by both have been essentially equivalent, but the Resmed Autoset II gets there by reporting a relatively high HI, whereas the System One gets there by reporting a relatively high CA.
Hello Jay,
I saw your thread and read it with interest. I will be interested to see what responses you get over there. To answer your question, I have observed something similar to what you have observed, but with an added twist. In general, my AHI with my Autoset T (not Autoset II, but the older Autoset T model) machine ran about 8 or 10, with the Apnea Index at about 1, or even less sometimes. So, lots of Hyponeas, which my sleep doctor had told me was unusual, many years ago. I used either nose pillows or a nasal mask for all those years. (There is an additional twist, too - my nose, my AHI, and my sleep were always much better when I was traveling, a situation that continues to this day and is a whole other subject for another time.)
So, three and a half weeks ago I got the new Respironics System One Auto. I don't have the software to read my data every day, but my sleep doctor's office will print it out for me, and I have been having them do that each week so far. My AHI was about 2.5 to 3 for the first two weeks, with CA's about 0.5, OA's about 0.5, and H's about 1.5 to 2. That seemed great, and it also seemed consistent with the things I have read here about Resmed machines reporting higher H numbers than Respironics machines. My older machine made no attempt to identify CA's, of course.
The twist came in the third week, when I switched to a Quattro full face mask (earlier, I mistakenly thought it was an Ultra Mirage full face mask, but it is a Quattro, brand new). With the Quattro FF mask, suddenly my CA index jumped up to about 3. This seems to be consistent with what you have seen, which is very interesting to me. I guess you read this thread, in which it was discussed.
I have a lot more data to gather, and maybe things will change with more data, but this is what I know so far. I'll be interested in your thread on the subject, to see what people have to say. I tried switching back to my nasal mask this week, to see if the numbers went down again, but last night my nose got so bad that I had to switch to my full face mask in the middle of the night, and I think I will just use that for now, since it is more comfortable for me and I feel like I sleep better with it, despite the CA numbers being reported. I'm working on getting the Encore Pro 2 software, and that will make it much easier to gather data and try thngs out.
Barry