Central Sleep Apnea

Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) affects only 5-10% of the sleep apnea population. CSA occurs when both airflow and respiratory effort cease. This cessation of breathing results from a loss of the autonomic drive to breathe, due to a host of issues including, brain injury, and too much pressure delivered by a flow generator.

With CSA, the lower brain stem that controls and regulates breathing is disrupted and stops signaling the muscles that control breathing. Its not that you can't breath, you just stop breathing.

CSA is treated using a BiPap machine to auto-breath for you during a CSA event. The BiPap requires high and low pressure settings to successfully auto-breath during a CSA event.

EPAP Exhalation pressure (lower pressure setting), lower pressure to breath out.

IPAP Inhalation pressure (higher pressure setting), higher pressure to breath in.

Popular BiPap machines: Respironics AutoSV Advanced or a Resmed VPAP Adapt.