CA = Clear Airway or Central Apnea ?

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SailorJerry
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:19 am

CA = Clear Airway or Central Apnea ?

Post by SailorJerry » Thu Jan 29, 2015 1:45 pm

The sleepyhead software uses the abbreviation CA and defines it as Clear Airway.
I don't see Clear Airway in the definitions, but I do see Central Apnea.

Are they the same thing? I can understand obstructed apnea and can see how an obstructed airway could compromise breathing.
But what do I stop breathing even if my airway is clear?
Diagnosed with 15.9 AHI
Using CPAP since Jan 25, 2015

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Pugsy
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Location: Missouri, USA

Re: CA = Clear Airway or Central Apnea ?

Post by Pugsy » Thu Jan 29, 2015 1:53 pm

Clear Airway....Centrals...same thing.
Respironics calls them clear airway and ResMed calls them centrals. SleepyHead was originally designed for Respironics machines so Clear Airway name stuck.

It's just a cessation of breathing but the airway is still open. Hold your breath for 15 seconds...that's a central or clear airway cessation of breathing. No air movement because you did it on purpose but the end result is still the same.

It's normal to see a few centrals on these reports as some centrals are just a normal part of life. Some might also be awake breathing pauses of breathing. Remember your machine can't tell if you are asleep or not.....it just reports air flow or lack of.
Unless we see a large number of centrals on a consistent basis we don't worry about them.
It's normal to see a few at various times during the night especially during sleep stage transition.

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archangle
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Re: CA = Clear Airway or Central Apnea ?

Post by archangle » Thu Jan 29, 2015 6:55 pm

There's some debate about how reliable CPAP machines are at detecting central apnea, but basically, if it says "CA," it's probably a real central apnea.

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