INTERPRETING MY MACHINE'S SMARTCODE

[alphawaves]

Hi again!
I had some early doubts about the way to read and interpret some of my smart-code numbers but I think I got it right by now:

Let me bring here the link to the smart-code used by intellipap machines:

http://www.devilbisshealthcare.com/file ... 11_WEB.pdf

Since the 90th and 95th percentile pressure was 10 it just means that on both percentage of the time during the therapy the pressure was at [which means equal to] or BELOW the 10 point pressure set to the high range >>>done by me

It doesn't say much at all because what I've learned from a different page is that you must refer to the actual "Pressure Plateau Time" (given in %) to determine how extensive was the top pressure active. It is recommended by those who programmed the intellipap machine to watch this very factor since an equal to 10% or above 10% pressure change becomes advisable.

What I'm trying to say is that in my personal case a 10.0 percentile on 90th and 95th with a machine set to 10 cm/H2O for the top high pressure range doesn't raise any flag at all however it is the PPT what tells me "it's moment to change the top pressure settings a little bit higher.

I did it. I already made 11 the top pressure and my next smart-code is not due until 7 days from today. By that time I will watch carefully both values at 90th and 95th and correlate them once again with the PPT (%).

The reason I'm posting this to the rest of you is because some of those numbers are co-related with each other and you can't simply take one by one and analyze them separately. Sometimes by fixing one value you end up worsening the other. The AHI is not the top goal although it's important to have it under control > the lower the better. That explains why some members here posted incredibly low values of AHI reported by their software and still complaint about tiredness and depressive symptoms.

It's fascinating how complex and interrelated the process of sleep could become in the human brain.

My code was FTHH-F9F-7FFV

90th and 95th percentile pressure = 10.0
AHI = 5.0
Pressure Plateau Time (PPT) 11% >>>>RED FLAG!

[alphawaves]

Read this:

95% Percentile Pressure
90% Percentile Pressure
Percentile pressure is provided as a number and as a graph. Percentile pressure indicates that
therapy pressure was at or below this pressure for 90- or 95-percent of its usage time. Percentile
pressure can be used to help choose fixed CPAP pressures. If the AutoAdjust device operates at
the upper pressure setting for more than 10% of the therapy time, this may be an indication that
the upper setting should be increased.
Pressure Plateau Time
Pressure plateau time is provided as a number and as a graph. Pressure plateau time is the
percentage of time therapy was at the upper prescription limit. If the time is 10% or higher,
the pressure has been railing at the upper pressure and this may be an indication the prescription
setting should be increased to allow the therapy to move to a higher pressure than is currently
allowed. [end of quote]

In other words, the percentile pressure is helpful for technicians to determine the better value for the constant pressure supplied by cpap. When you are talking about an APAP the things are different. Auto-adjust [auto-titrated machines] give you the information of how long the time (% of therapy time) the top pressure was active, it has been studied in LAB procedures that any number above 10% of the PPT is a solid reason to believe that a small pressure change is due to make the therapy even more effective.