Central Sleep Apnea question

A co-worker of mine (the guy who talked me into getting a sleep study), has had his second sleep study (the one with the mask). It found that he had central sleep apnea. They apparently put him on a bipap which did not really have any effect on the number of "episodes" he had (reduced from about 120 to just under a 100 an hour). He has now been referred to a sleep specialist by his ENT (either a neurologist or pulmonologist)

I thought bipaps were generally what was used for central apnea. Is this correct? Does anyone know what other treatments (invasive or non-invasive, preferably non-invasive) there are for central sleep apnea? I think I read resmed has a machine which they recently brought out for central, but can not recall. Thanks.

Todd

tmaiberger wrote:I think I read resmed has a machine which they recently brought out for central, but can not recall.

Resmed VPAP AdaptSV
and
Respironics BiPAP autoSV (aka HeartPAP)

I have central sleep apnea (CSA) as well. I use a Bipap machine - the Synchrony S/T. The "S/T" stands for spontaneous and timed. With the Bipap you have different pressure settings for breathing in and out. (mine are 14/4). You also have a "back-up rate", a set time that if you reach without breathing, the machine will force a breath. (Mine is 8 ).

If everything is going ok, i.e., you are breathing on your own, that is covered by the spontaneous function. If you stop breathing the timed "back-up" rate kicks in.

My AHI at the first study was 117, and at the second 128. It was a neurologist who referred me for the sleep study and the study was handled by a pulmonologist.

The machine that guest refers to is very new, and I gather very expensive. I'd love to try one myself! I believe though, that with CSA, you have to make sure that the machine has the "T" function. I don't think that auto is adequate. After all, with CSA, it's not an obstruction stopping you from breathing, it's your brain forgetting to tell your body to breath. (My brain forgets all kinds of things, but really - this is going to far! )

I know of no other treatment other than Bipap - and it's very hard to find information about CSA. Certain medications can cause or make CSA worse, for example opiate medicines. I know that it my case that one med. I take does so, but I'm not stopping it, nor has any doctor suggested to. I'd find my functions very limited if I did, and I'd still need the Bipap.

There are multiple types of CSA - some as a result of heart problems, others that have no obvious cause on an otherwise well person.

The 2 new technology machines mentioned by guest, the ResMed ASV
and the Respironics HeartPaP were developed primarily for people suffering from Chronic Heart Failure that have CSA.

You are right - they are expensive -- I believe the ResMed is in the $5000
range and I don't know if the Respironics unit is available in the US

If anyone knows of trials for the Respironics unit, that would be of interest.

Most of the papers in the medical journals are for CSA for heart patients
-- they are interesting reading if you are into medical journal articles
Try searching for them on scholar.google.com

ResMed also has a newsletter article about Assist Servo Ventilation which is what ASV stands for.

These links are rather old, but might be interesting reading about central apneas in general:

Links to Central Apnea

Like Bella, christinequilts' sleep disordered breathing is pure Central Sleep Apnea (as opposed to Obstructive Sleep Apnea.)

I think I've read somewhere that christine will be trying an ASV soon, if not already. Hope you get to try it, Bella! And hope it works well for both of you.