BiPAP ASV Sleepyhead/Encore CPAP vs BiPAP

Please excuse me for the previous post in which I asked why the CPAP card wasn’t working. I should have been able to sus out the information myself.
Now I can start asking sensible questions:

I now (and for the last week) use a Philips Respironics BiPAP autoSV Advanced System One

I have installed and am running EncoreBasic V2.4.8 and SleepyHead v0.9.8-1 (testing). Although arguably both os these packages show the same data, far and away, Sleepyhead is a more user friendly and informative of the two. However the only way I can communicate with my RTs is through Encore.

Just before the BiPAP machine arrived I found I was getting very good results with my CPAP machine (for the last two weeks AHI <3 range). I wanted to use this as an argument to not get the BiPPAP but I was also curious to know what it would do for me (and since it’s rented by the month I can give it back if it’s not necessary).

Generally speaking, one thing the RTs are looking for is averages over shortly defined units of time (2 weeks/ 1 month…). It’s fairly easy to get summary information using Encore but I haven’t yet figured out how to do this in SleepyHead.

Q1: Can Sleepyhead deliver summary information (AHI average, etc…) over a continuous block of time (e.g., a week, a month, a few days…)? If so, how?

In an earlier posting, I listed my BiPAP settings as gathered from my SleepLab titration report. They were:
- Max Pressure 25
- Minimimal EPAP 6 cm H2O
- Maximum EPAP 10 cm H2O
- Automatic backup rate and pressure support in the range of 2- 10 cm H2O

Q2: A member of this forum mentioned that nothing was said about PPressure Support Numbers”. What are they and why are they important?

SleepyHead lists
- BiPAP autoSV AdvancedModel 960P - SN
- PAP Mode: ASV (Variable EPAP)
- Min EPAP 6.0 Max IPAP 15.7 PS 3.0-5.8 (cmH2O)

I don’t know how to get this information out of Encore.

Q3: How do I get this information from Encore?

Thanks

Pressure support is just the difference between EPAP and IPAP.

AfibApnea wrote:PS 3.0-5.8 (cmH2O)

In this situation minimum PS is 3.0 and maximum appears to be 5.8.

With an AHI of less than 3.0 when using a cpap machine...why did they decide to try you on ASV machine?
Even if the entire AHI of 3.0 were central in nature that normally doesn't buy you an ASV machine.

You can't customize your Encore reports other than what you see. You can set the parameters to include more than the default last 7 nights of therapy in the summary statistics and/or the graphs but that's about all you can do with it.

SleepyHead will let you set different parameters for summary/overview data. From the Overview tab look at the bottom left for "Range"...and you can set the time frame for anything you want and the graphs will reflect those settings.

The statistics page will give you AHI most recent...and averages for last week...last month...6 months and past year.
On that same statistics page you will see other averages.

I don't know what you are trying to get out of Encore so I don't know if what you want is available or not available.
The last page of the detailed data shows the summary and long term averages...you just have to change the report date to include other dates instead of the default 7 day report.

I'm also wondering why I'm on BiPAP ASV. It was a determination of a Sleep Study.

I seem to remember that before the study my AHI was higher and there were a lot of Central events.

I think I'm going to experiment (two weeks on one...two weeks on the other) to look into this further. I suppose there's no harm using a BiPAP ASV. Is there possible harm using BiPAP ASV when only CPAP is warranted?

(So far as I can tell) Encore can be customized to cover any continuous time period and then instruct it to do a Summary Report.

Thanks for telling me how Sleepyhead approaches this problem. Sleepyhead is much better!!! (Although it would be nice if at the end of the list of (e.g., AHI) figures listed atop the bar graphs the program printed an average figure.

There is no harm in using ASV other than damage to your wallet/insurance companies bank account.