During a PSG, an apnea is labeled obstructive when someone is trying to take a breath but can't. On the other hand, our home-treatment machines do not monitor effort to breathe, but, instead, label our apneas according to whether or not our airway appears to the machine to be mostly closed. That is useful for
estimating the nature of the event, but it is not
definitive. Therefore it is possible that harmless pauses in breathing are allowing your airway mostly to close so that the event is getting
labeled by your machine as obstructive, according to its definition. Furthermore, if you are turning over in your sleep, it is possible you are closing your airway on purpose, similar to a grunt. Some of us do that.
These are only a few of the reasons that a sudden apnea in isolation that is labeled obstructive may not be something to be overly concerned about to the extent of attempting to over-stent or over-stabilize the airway with higher pressure(s), especially if the number of events is not trending upward over the long-term.
This is my overly-wordy way of giving a plus one to LSAT's post.
