Centrals and Leak Rate

[Allessio77]

Looking at this chart which highlights a series of central Apneas, They seem to be correlated to the Leak Rate somehow. Does anyone have any observations?

[jaswilliams]

You have leaks all over the place it looks like mouth breathing it may be that these are not CA’s but you breathing through your mouth that the apap cannot detect. You have a huge amount of large leaks over 1/5 of the time you need to concentrate on that first once the leaks are sorted then we can look at the flow.



Jason

[Allessio77]

You have leaks all over the place it looks like mouth breathing it may be that these are not CA’s but you breathing through your mouth that the apap cannot detect. You have a huge amount of large leaks over 1/5 of the time you need to concentrate on that first once the leaks are sorted then we can look at the flow.



Jason

Why would the software call these CA's if it can NOT detect them (due to my mouth breathing)? Wouldn't it be more likely to miss apneas if the leaks are too high?

BTW, these large leaks just began 2 nights ago. Even including them, my ave leak rate for the last 2 weeks has been 7.4%. I am also trying to figure out why suddenly the leak rate tripled. Last night I tried to loosen up my mask a bit (did not work!), and tonight I am going to try a new pillow in my mask.

[CB91710]

It is not detecting that you are breathing, and it is not detecting a flow restriction, so it is assuming that it is a central event.

Another issue is large leaks can flush excess CO2 from the system and induce hypocapnia. Since the CO2 level in the blood is what triggers us to inhale, the result of hypocapnia is truly a central apnea event that happens to prevent hyperventilation.