Can a sleep study?..

Diagnose UARS?

Is it more common than OSA?

And can my machine tell if I have UARS?

Does a sleep study need additional equipment for the diagnosis of UARS?

sleepinow wrote:Diagnose UARS?

Is it more common than OSA?

And can my machine tell if I have UARS?

Does a sleep study need additional equipment for the diagnosis of UARS?

Hi sleepinow,

You have to check with the sleep center that you are considering having the study done at to see if they do. Some places will diagnose it and other facilities think it is totally irrelevant.

I know I am not stating it exactly right but the use of a PES in the esophogous will help diagnose the condition. Not exactly great for sleeping but I guess if you want an accurate diagnosis, a necessary evil.

If I remember correctly, there was another method used that was less accurate but it doesn't come to mind.

I know many people would say since the treatment is the same, it really doesn't matter if a lab diagnoses it or doesn't. I think it does but that would be another post.

49er

sleepinow wrote:Diagnose UARS?

Yes. But if insurance won't cover the cost of a CPAP for the treatment of UARS, and WILL cover the cost of a CPAP machine for mild OSA, it is not in the best interests of the patient or the sleep doc to end up with a UARS diagnosis. The numbers are likely to get fudged in the direction of an OSA diagnosis so that a patient may try PAP to see if that helps the quality of sleep experienced.

sleepinow wrote:Is it more common than OSA?

In some ways, the world will never know. That is in many respects because of the answer to your first question.

Not all docs are on board with the idea of dividing PAP patients into various camps. To some docs, either a patient benefits from PAP or doesn't. And that is all the naming convention some docs are willing to work with. If UARS had been universally accepted as a separate entity and was universally covered by all payers, the story might have turned out differently.

sleepinow wrote:And can my machine tell if I have UARS?

Your treatment machine doesn't care what name is put to what you have, since your treatment machine is not a tool for diagnosis. If it has efficacy data, it keeps track of how you breathe and gives certain ways of breathing certain names for the purpose of trending your TREATMENT.

sleepinow wrote:Does a sleep study need additional equipment for the diagnosis of UARS?

Not really. I mean, technically, yes, extra equipment helps to differentiate one form of breathing troubles from another. But all that really doesn't matter when the only significant question is: "Will this patient get to try PAP or not?"