04-14-2023, 11:22 PM
Central Mixed Apnea - Diagnosis/Treatment with 36% Ejection Fraction
Hi: My husband was diagnosed with OSA 15 years ago, didn't have good compliance at first. It's still a struggle, between mask fit, leaking from mask and mouth, and waking up out of breath, or taking his mask off in the middle of the night. He wears nasal pillows, and uses 8-11 pressure.
He had a massive heart attack Feb 2022, STEMI, 100% blockage of his left anterior descending artery. He collapsed on the sidewalk, brought back after 20 minutes CPR, coded in emergency, was put on a heart/lung by pass to get the stent in to bring him back, and was in medically-induced coma for five days, hospital for three weeks.
During his time in ICU on a ventilator, he experienced central apneas when he was partly brought to consciousness. They said that happens sometimes. His EF was 36% 11 days after his widowmaker heart attack, and 36% in early February 2023 with a cardiac MRI with contrast. His heart is quite badly damaged.
He's in pretty rough shape now. He spends most of his days in bed or lying on the couch, he's tired, weak, nauseated, in pain. He was diagnosed with cancer (multiple myeloma) six months after his heart attack, and started chemo in September 2022. I think the chemo has created further damage to his heart, he was doing better before that. He's on a chemo break for now, for maybe another month or so, but is only marginally improving.
Lately, he's developed a sore inside one nostril. Not from touching the pillows. For some reason humidity was set to manual and was at 3, so we increased it to 5 and 29C for temperature, hoping it will help, it's only been one night. Seeing the GP on Tuesday about his nose, and maybe we'll ask for another sleep study.
The respiratory therapists say he has central apneas, but they tried to treat it by changing his pressures. The latest is saying he's having more central apneas, and when he stops breathing, because there's no obstruction, the pressure is clearing the CO2 out of his lungs, making him less likely to take a breath. So we'll see about getting him another sleep study (he has had two in the hospital both over a decade ago).
We have extended medical, so can get whatever new machine he needs.
And I will download the data from his CPAP and try to download OSCAR to add his data, and figure it out, and share it here. It's overwhelming, I just learned about OSCAR this afternoon.
So just wondering about next steps, getting him the help he needs. Is a sleep study important if he won't qualify for an ASV machine with his low EF? Is there hope?
Thank you for reading this far.
He had a massive heart attack Feb 2022, STEMI, 100% blockage of his left anterior descending artery. He collapsed on the sidewalk, brought back after 20 minutes CPR, coded in emergency, was put on a heart/lung by pass to get the stent in to bring him back, and was in medically-induced coma for five days, hospital for three weeks.
During his time in ICU on a ventilator, he experienced central apneas when he was partly brought to consciousness. They said that happens sometimes. His EF was 36% 11 days after his widowmaker heart attack, and 36% in early February 2023 with a cardiac MRI with contrast. His heart is quite badly damaged.
He's in pretty rough shape now. He spends most of his days in bed or lying on the couch, he's tired, weak, nauseated, in pain. He was diagnosed with cancer (multiple myeloma) six months after his heart attack, and started chemo in September 2022. I think the chemo has created further damage to his heart, he was doing better before that. He's on a chemo break for now, for maybe another month or so, but is only marginally improving.
Lately, he's developed a sore inside one nostril. Not from touching the pillows. For some reason humidity was set to manual and was at 3, so we increased it to 5 and 29C for temperature, hoping it will help, it's only been one night. Seeing the GP on Tuesday about his nose, and maybe we'll ask for another sleep study.
The respiratory therapists say he has central apneas, but they tried to treat it by changing his pressures. The latest is saying he's having more central apneas, and when he stops breathing, because there's no obstruction, the pressure is clearing the CO2 out of his lungs, making him less likely to take a breath. So we'll see about getting him another sleep study (he has had two in the hospital both over a decade ago).
We have extended medical, so can get whatever new machine he needs.
And I will download the data from his CPAP and try to download OSCAR to add his data, and figure it out, and share it here. It's overwhelming, I just learned about OSCAR this afternoon.
So just wondering about next steps, getting him the help he needs. Is a sleep study important if he won't qualify for an ASV machine with his low EF? Is there hope?
Thank you for reading this far.
