Flow Limitation ?

[dtech99]

I am trying to get a better understanding of what the FL, flow limitation, actually means in the Encore data. I had been using a M series Cpap for about a month with a Rx of 10 cmH20. I then switch to a M series Auto Bipap with a Rx of max Ipap 11, min Epap 5 and PS 4.5 as a starting point. Settings in the Auto Bipap not to much different than the Cpap. The 90% pressure results are 9 Epap and 11 Ipap. Ultimately I would like to see if the Auto M can help find an Rx which can reduce AHI.

With the Cpap there was never any FL flagged, always 0. With just 2 days of use on the Bipap the FL is now appearing at 2.0. Can you explain the significance of the FL and why it might be showing up in the data with Bipap? I don't see much correlation to other flags or any specific pressure transitions.

Thank you

[Wulfman...]

I am trying to get a better understanding of what the FL, flow limitation, actually means in the Encore data. I had been using a M series Cpap for about a month with a Rx of 10 cmH20. I then switch to a M series Auto Bipap with a Rx of max Ipap 11, min Epap 5 and PS 4.5 as a starting point. Settings in the Auto Bipap not to much different than the Cpap. The 90% pressure results are 9 Epap and 11 Ipap. Ultimately I would like to see if the Auto M can help find an Rx which can reduce AHI.

With the Cpap there was never any FL flagged, always 0. With just 2 days of use on the Bipap the FL is now appearing at 2.0. Can you explain the significance of the FL and why it might be showing up in the data with Bipap? I don't see much correlation to other flags or any specific pressure transitions.

Thank you

Respironics machines have not displayed Flow Limitations in CPAP mode. They're a partial reduction in air flow (a Hypopnea wannabe) and are used to trigger pressure increases in Auto/APAP mode.

If you do a forum search or a Google search on the term, you'll find more information and discussions about them.


Den

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[avi123]

I can see on my Resmed S9 Autoset machine data that I have Flow Limitation (which includes Upper Airway Resistance syndrome (UARs), and also RERAs. They all relate to nasal, mouth, and throat anatomical malformations causing resistance to air flow. But CPAPs are the simplest and safest non- surgical approaches to dealing with it. In the following graphs you can see that my FL is above the middle level. You can also see the shape of my respiration waves becoming flattened on their tops instead of being rounded. The machine checks for the Shape Factor and decides if to raise the pressure and also decides on the rate of the pressure change (up and down). I can't interfere with the machine's methodology. It's built-in.



It's also possible to use SleepyHead to get a graph of the FL: