Question about Leakage Compensation

[VABeach]

I have a question regarding Leakage and a term I was not familiar with …”Leakage compensation”. But first a bit of background.

Yesterday, I had my “15 day after starting CPAP” visit with my doctor to see how I was doing with the CPAP therapy. The main reason for the visit was to see how compliant I was. The reports he provided were very clear that compliance was not a problem. The summary data was as follows;

Settings: Autoset EPR: OFF Days in Study: 10/12 to 10/28
Minimum Pressure: 6.0 cmH2O
Maximum Pressure: 12.0 cmH20

Pressure
95th Percentile: 7.8
Maximum: 8.8

Leak
95th Percentile: 0.2 L/s
Maximum: 0.5 L/s

AHI & AI
Apnea Index: 0.9
Hypopnea Index: 2.9
95th Percentile (AHI): 3.8

While with the doctor, I mentioned that I was concerned about leakage. I learned from this forum that leakages above 0.2 may affect therapy and at 0.5 would definitely affect therapy.

The doctor was not concerned about the leakage at all. He said that the machine provides for “leakage compensation” which maintains the pressure at therapeutic levels. He did say there are limits, but expect for one day, I did not exceed the limits. He provided two graphs which show the pressures and leakages that support the data above.

My questions:
Is anyone familiar with Leakage Compensation? If so, does the explanation from above make sense?
Is "Leak Compensation" a function of the machine I have or is this a “standard” functionality?
I do not have software yet, but am working on it. Does the software (Resscan 3.7) produce graphs that show leakage and pressure?

Any other comments, suggestions, or observations would be appreciated.

[KengEsq]

I understand that your machine (and mine) adjust pressure to compensate for any mask leakage to keep the pressure at the level necessary to deliver proper therapy. I also understand that the "leak" reported by your machine is probably overstated as many of the reported numbers are on a ResMed machine. I have similar leak numbers and feel comfortable that mine are nothing to worry about.

[ScrappinMom]

Another thought about leaks... Some mornings my leak number on the screen will be really high, but if I look at the graph, I see that it really was during adjustment when I put on my mask, or maybe I took the mask off before I turned off the machine...and my leak line while asleep during the night was very flat.

A few seconds of "high" leak can skew your nightly percentage. Without the software to see your graphs, you don't necessarily get the whole story. That 0.2 doesn't mean that you had a continuous 0.2 leakage through the night.

Your other numbers look good, and if you're feeling better, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[KengEsq]

According to ResMed:
"How do our AutoSet devices measure up?

■Our AutoSet devices actually find the pressure that the user needs. Other machines may require you to preprogram a pressure range in which the machine will operate. If a person needs more or less pressure than specified in the range, the machine will not be able to satisfy that requirement
■AutoSet devices respond to snoring, apneas, and flow limitation. They also compensate for mask and mouth leak
■AutoSet devices respond according to the severity of the event: the more severe the event, the greater the response. Most devices respond in an incremental fashion until the event is resolved
■AutoSet devices respond to leak
■AutoSet devices monitor breathing on a breath-by-breath basis. Most devices "spot-check" breathing
■AutoSet technology has been clinically validated in peer-reviewed journals"