Needing information

[Jack1929]

Hi all
First of all apologies for the possible mistakes. My mother tongue is not english.
I am in need of information for my husband, age 92, who has had sleep apnea since years. Tried CPAP a couple of years ago but could not get used to it.
Situation with apnea is now getting worse, causing AFIB from time to time, this bringing us to think that a new try could be worthwhile. The tests he has
done confirm both ostruction as well as neural apneas.
He has suffered an hemorragic stroke back in 2016 but recovered quite well and has had no further problems since then. I have seen that most of the
CPAP machines indicate as contraindications "recent cranial surgery or trauma". Could the use of a CPAP machine be dangerous in his particular case?
I do not think that the event of 2016 can be labelled as recent, however this gives me some worries. Another contraindication mentioned is "pathologically
low blood pressure". Does the use of a CPAP machine lower blood pressure ?
In case that we would decide to give this another try, which type of CPAP machine would you recommend for his mixed types of apnea ?

Many thanks.

R.

[Gideon]

Welcome to the forum.

I question your translation to contraindications. A stroke or cranial injury, in some cases, is a cause of some, not all, central Apneas.

There is insufficient data in your post to recommend a specific machine.

Can you post your husband's sleep studies, please remove/block out/redact any personal info. Also post data from his failed CPAP Attempt.

Assuming sufficient numbers of Central events are present an ASV may be appropriate. What other heart and breathing issues does he have as this can definitely impact the device needed.

Do have his AHI, CAI numbers?

[Jack1929]

Hi
Thank you for taking the time to answer. I'm sorry not being able to post anything regarding the sleep study, which goes back to a couple of years ago (before the
stroke) and for which we did not receive any written report from the medical centre. I remember they saying that part of the apneas discovered were neural but not
giving an exact indication about the number (I believe they were in total 48 in one night).
The attempt failed because my husband could not get used to get asleep with the machine working, was still awake when the airflow increased and could not tolerate
the increasing pressure. Reading other posts in this forum, I do understand that I am talking in a very poor technical way, but I have no knowledge at all regarding
the topic. I am sorry not knowing also the meaning of the various abbreviations that are currently used in the posts (ASV, AHI, CAI) No idea, sorry.

With regards to his heart, he has a valve problem, which causes him to breathe heavily during exertion. No further issue known at the moment.
No breathing issue, no pulmunary problem, oxigen level usual around 97% / 98%.

Thank you
R.

[SarcasticDave94]

I'll clear up the abbreviation issue.
ASV is Adaptive Servo Ventilator, it's used for Central Apnea, the Apnea where one doesn't breathe, not the Obstructive Apnea event.

AHI is Apnea–Hypopnea Index. The AHI is calculated by dividing the number of apnea events by the number of hours of sleep.

CAI is Central Apnea Index

[Crimson Nape]

Try looking here for all the abbreviations and acronyms:

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php/Definitions

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php/Acronyms