Central Apnea

[gary1001]

Hi all,

Just a quick question, how effective is the resMed S9 Auto at detecting central events? I ask as I still have the sensation of waking and being short of breath despite good AHI number and using CPAP for the entire night. I'm wondering if its just a matter stilling geting use to CPAP or if my first study missed any centrals.

Thanks,

Gary

[john.michael]

I have central apnea primarily, with very little obstructive. My DME initially gave me an auto CPAP machine in error. My doctor said only VPAP would provide successful treatment, and I shouldn't even use the first machine while waiting for the correct one.

I don't know how that does or doesn't translate to your machine detecting centrals, but that was my experience.

Seems like a low AHI should be a low AHI, but I understand your concern maybe your machine is not counting centrals. Seems unlikely to me, actually. More likely, the machine would detect apnea, but not be able to determine the type.

One idea might be to use an oximeter to see if you have good oxygenation on the nights with low AHI.

And, of course, check with your doctor.

Best wishes!

[gary1001]

Good point about the oximeter - I'll get one and record the night. Thanks

[Julius]

Hi all,

Just a quick question, how effective is the resMed S9 Auto at detecting central events? I ask as I still have the sensation of waking and being short of breath despite good AHI number and using CPAP for the entire night. I'm wondering if its just a matter stilling geting use to CPAP or if my first study missed any centrals.

Thanks,

Gary

I have the Resmed S9 Autoset and it detects the Central Sleep Apnea and specifies as such in the recorded information. If you download the information from the SD card to your computer you can see it on the graphs.
Julius

[archangle]

A CPAP is unlikely to miss a central apnea. However, it may classify it as an obstructive rather than a central.

It's pretty easy to see that you stopped breathing. Determining whether it's central or obstructive is fairly difficult.

[Xney]

They also have to last 10 seconds. It won't count one that lasts 9 seconds.

There's detecting an apnea event - machines are great at that. Figuring out whether it's obstructive or central, they're usually good at, but not always.

[jtmarten]

I have central apnea primarily, with very little obstructive. My DME initially gave me an auto CPAP machine in error. My doctor said only VPAP would provide successful treatment, and I shouldn't even use the first machine while waiting for the correct one.

That's not true in all cases. I had ~80% CA during my sleep study (AHI 70+) and the standard CPAP treats it well for me. I have very few reported CA events now.