Are these OA events positional?

[foxfire]

My relative who was experiencing severe CSR a few weeks ago is doing much better. He still has difficulty with mask leaks some nights, but on nights when he gets a good seal his data looks like the attached screen shots. My question is, do the remaining OA events look like they are positional? If not then what could be causing them? Maybe try higher pressure?

TIA.

[Walla Walla]

It looks positional to me.

[sheepless]

Walla Walla, would you please explain what you see in fotxfire's relative's graphs that suggest positional OA's? It would help me and probably others interpret our own graphs. Thanks.

[Walla Walla]

Normally when you see long periods of no events than see a cluster of them together that indicates a shift in position. Most often it would be the chin dropping down and cutting off the wind pipe. Some people use a u-shaped pillow or soft cervical collar to prevent the chin dropping down as a fix. Others use wheat chaff pillows to hold the heads in place.

[sheepless]

thanks, Walla Walla, that's really helpful!

[Ron AKA]

My relative who was experiencing severe CSR a few weeks ago is doing much better. He still has difficulty with mask leaks some nights, but on nights when he gets a good seal his data looks like the attached screen shots. My question is, do the remaining OA events look like they are positional? If not then what could be causing them? Maybe try higher pressure?

TIA.

Since the machine is in fixed pressure mode, it is kind of hard to tell if this is a positional problem or not. All the SH chart shows is that for most of the night the fixed pressure setting is enough. However for short periods of time it is not enough. If the machine was put in VAuto and allowed to increase pressure in response to the initial events, then many of them could possibly be avoided. If it was allowed to increase pressure and the events still happened in a cluster, then it would suggest a position problem.

[Walla Walla]

Ron AKA "Captain Pressure" strikes again.  

[gwc2795]

walla walla seems to be correct. I had the same type of chart and a soft cervical collar stopped the clusters. The problem with pressure is it leads to Central apneas in some users.

[Ron AKA]

Ron AKA "Captain Pressure" strikes again.  

At least I understand how the machines work and how they prevent apnea.

[Ron AKA]

walla walla seems to be correct. I had the same type of chart and a soft cervical collar stopped the clusters. The problem with pressure is it leads to Central apneas in some users.

My point is that the fixed pressure is set so high that it masks what is happening for the rest of the night. Until you see the whole picture, it would be incorrect to ASSUME the issues are positional. If you put the machine in Auto mode then you will start to see what is really happening.