Acceptable leak for Mirage Swift LT

[js_insf]

I'm trying to figure out what is an "acceptable" leak for the Mirage Swift LT Nasal Pillow. Over the last week or so, my numbers have been:

Leak L/min

Median: 4.8 (stayed at this number for seven days)

95th percentile: from 14.4 to 21.6

Maximum: from 120 to 129.6

Can anyone tell me how to read these numbers, and if they're ok or not? The manual for the mask isn't telling me what I need.

Thank you all, once again.

[robysue]

Is your S9 mask setting set to Pillows? If not, make sure that it is set to pillows.

My understanding from the way the S9 handles my own leak rate data, is that your S9 is probably giving you a Green Smiley every morning in the short version of the Sleep Quality menu in spite of the leaks? So in that sense your S9 is "content" with your leak rates.

But you're wondering whether the leak rate really is too high?

Well, obviously lower leak rates are better (in general), but I really don't know how low you need to have it before you can assume that it's no longer high enough to worry about since I'm still pretty much a newbie. My own leak rate numbers for the S9 range look like this:

0.0 for median leak rate every night since my first night on CPAP
From 0.0 (two nights) on the low end to 17.** (two nights) on the high end for my 95% percentile leak rate.
From 0.0 to around 60ish for max leak rate.

You may want to look at the detailed leak rate graph to find out how long the bad leaks are lasting each night as well as how bad each individual leak episode is in terms of amount of leaked air. Those two pieces of data may be more significant than the reported median, the 95% leak rate, or the max leak rate for determining if you have a leak problem that is serious enough to interfere with the efficacy of your treatment.

Good luck

[bdp522]

Here's a link to the chart you need. The chart is on page 5.

http://www.resmed.com/int/assets/docume ... ow_eng.pdf

Brenda

[js_insf]

Thank you, but there's no chart on page 5. Do you mean the chart on page 12, the "pressure-flow curve"? If so, can you explain to me how to use this chart to help me determine if my leak numbers are within an acceptable range?

[bdp522]

If your machine is set correctly for your mask the ideal leak would be 0. Anything over 0 would be actual leaking. Your max leak is WAY too high. Could it be you are removing the mask while the machine is still on? The median leak isn't too bad, but you want it to be as close to 0 as you can get and definately under 20. Try re-adjusting the mask while the machine is at full pressure. When leaks are too high it makes all the other data(AI,HI,AHI) unreliable.
If your machine doesn't have a setting for your mask, use the chart to find the closest match for leak rates and set it to that mask.

Brenda