central apnea events..

[cg30sailor]

I have been using my new pb 420e for about a month now and have checked my data out and discovered my pressures are all over the place, and I have been having 10 to 15 central apnea events. in my sleep study 2 years ago, I had none. just switched from cpap 9cm to apap 5-20??? some nites are better than others for waking up rested in the AM. anyone have any ideas?

[Snoredog]

Can you post a snapshot of your last 96hr Silverlining Detail report?

1. Have you tried disabling command on Flow Limitation FL1? (can be done from the Silverlining "Settings" Advanced menu. Leave FL2 enabled.
2. By default Command on Apnea defaults to 10cm, you may need to lower that to 9cm (if 9cm is your threshold for centrals).

[cg30sailor]

I will try to disable that as for posting the 96 hours, I donn't know how to.

[cohodependent]

My guesss would be that you have your max pressure set too high. 20cm is a lot of air. There are not many who can tolerate or even need that much air.

Is there a way for your machine to tell you at what pressure these central events are happening?

[javaide]

Can the machine 420e check and record the central apneas, through its accompanying software. Can remstar auto software encore pro (i am presently using) indicate the number of cental apneas. If not should i buy 420e. thanks for assistance by anyone.

[Snoredog]

[quote="javaide"]Can the machine 420e check and record the central apneas, through its accompanying software. Can remstar auto software encore pro (i am presently using) indicate the number of cental apneas. If not should i buy 420e. thanks for assistance by anyone.

[javaide]

Snoredog

Thanks for your prompt reply. Like I said, i am presently using Remstar Auto and my typical Encore Report is as follows:

Snoredog,

Thanks for your reply. My Encore Pro report is typically as follows:

N.R. = 0.0.

FL: 0.3

OA: 0.1

H: 0.1

VS: 6.3

AHI: 0.3.


Could you interpret the above results for me and whether N.R. (Non responsive) events mean, that I had no central apneas, but only Obstructive Apenas and Hypopneas. Thanks.

[Snoredog]

[quote="javaide"]Snoredog

Thanks for your prompt reply. Like I said, i am presently using Remstar Auto and my typical Encore Report is as follows:

Snoredog,

Thanks for your reply. My Encore Pro report is typically as follows:

N.R. = 0.0.

FL: 0.3

OA: 0.1

H: 0.1

VS: 6.3

AHI: 0.3.


Could you interpret the above results for me and whether N.R. (Non responsive) events mean, that I had no central apneas, but only Obstructive Apenas and Hypopneas. Thanks.

[rested gal]

javaide, your numbers look excellent. My edit: (Do I sound like an echo? LOL!! I was writing while Snoredog was posting! )

For more about the REMstar Auto/Encore Pro "NR" category, the excerpt below was written by -SWS:

Jul 06, 2006 subject: Pressures all over the place. Now what do I do?

"The "NR" category simply acts as a repository for events that did not resolve within three pressure increments above 8 cm (with unlimited increments allowed below 8 cm). For some patients with long-duration central apneas the "NR" category serves as a better-than-fair central apnea indicator.

For other patients with central apneas that are either of short or fleeting duration (i.e. central apneas disappearing in less than that three-pressure-increment time window), that "NR" category's apnea-detection sensitivity score would drop off considerably."

More from -SWS about the "NR" designation is here:
Feb 21, 2005 subject: Remstar Auto - Non-responsive events? Three page discussion of Remstar Auto flagging "NR" events.

Regarding identification of central apneas by PB 420E autopaps, posts by -SWS are here:

Jan 08, 2005 subject: 420e Specification Correction

-SWS wrote:
"In a past post I erroneously said that the 420e's central apnea specificity was on the order of eighty-some percent. I just now reviewed the 420e central apnea specs and here they are:

420e Central Apnea Specificity=100%
420e Central Apnea Sensitivity= 62%"

[javaide]

Rested Gal,

Thanks for your reply. Being a layman, the technical terms used aboe are not clear. What is really meant by specifity and sensitivity. In simpler terms, I was anxious to exclude central apneas as my PSG showed lot of central apneas. Now, I wanted to be sure, that NR being 0.0. is conclusive on the point, that on the typical day, I had not central apneas or it is just indicative. If not, should I buy the 420e if that machine reports a conclusive finding that I had not centrals.