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+--- Thread: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? (/Thread-What-do-AHI-AI-and-Total-AI-mean)
What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - TomR1 - 09-28-2012
My fullface mask simply blows off my face at 12cm pressure. At 9cm I have no problem.
At 11.8 maximum I have a month's data on my Resmed showing AHI as 1.2. However when I drop to 10.8 it increases to between 2 and 3.
What dos all this mean. I heard that Resmed reports high and anything below 4 is normal. is this true?
Tom
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - zonk - 09-28-2012
Anything below 5 considered good therapy
Whats the leak
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - JudgeMental - 09-28-2012
Well Tom, I'll add a little info here that will hopefully help you to understand some of the things about AHI..
The initials AHI stands for apnea-hypopnea index. The AHI is a hourly total of your obstructive apneas+hypopneas+central apneas. It is a summation of those three (3) items recorded hourly.
Therefore when you change your pressure sometimes, it will cause more central apneas to appear or perhaps change some other piece of the index. It appears to me that when your pressure is reduced, as you say, to 10.8, then you must be having more apneas in the range between 10.8- 11.8. If you are holding a AHI for a month at 1.2, then I would suggest you try a different mask. It shouldn't be blowing off your face at 11.8. Just because your mask stays on your face at AHI of 9 , it is not giving you the air pressure to keep your airway open satisfactorily.
Your AHI avg. of 1.2 for a months usage is very good. Your pressure should remain in the vacinity of 11.8.
I don;t know anything or I have never heard of ResMed reporting higher numbers but the medical acceptance of an AHI under 5 is considered acceptable therapy.
I don;t know how long you have been using a APAP (at least a month we know), but I think that you should not need for the machine to start at 4 and ramp all the way to 11.8. I would increase the bottom number gradually to around 9 or 10. You should be able to tolerate a 9 by now as a start up pressure.
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - zonk - 09-28-2012
Try the mask fit at 12
why not try a nasal mask ... less bulky and maintain better seal during the night
are you using auto 4-12 as in your profile?
You need to look at the software to see whats going on
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - TomR1 - 09-28-2012
I am a mouth breather and cannot tolerate either a nazel or nazel pillow mask. At 4-12 the mask blows off my face and the leaks wake me up. The Forma mask that I have is supposed to slip under my chin. When it does the mask fits and doesn't leak very much but my nose is uncomfortably squeezed. (Yes i have the large size mask) The Phillips mask is designed to fit under my mouth and above my chin. Also leaks.
I indend to move the ramp starting pressure up. There is a certain logic that says that I am getting apnias after I wake up and reset the ResMed because the ramp starts at 4 and takes 45min to get to max. This is based on a couple of days using my Transcend set at 9. I did not see an increase in apnias.
For some reason the ResScan software won't run on my computer but I can see the report on the machine.
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - PaulaO2 - 09-28-2012
Acronyms - http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=Acronyms
There's a specific set of steps to installing ResScan. If you don't follow it, it won't install or work. There's a bunch of stuff to do to completely remove it and try again. It's a driver issue.
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - zonk - 09-28-2012
If you have Mac computer ... ResScan don,t work
you need SleepyHead
The software tells us more than just AHI and 95% pressure and leak
It tell us whats going on breath by breath and when those apnea events occurred and how long lasted in seconds
The machine cannot tell if you were asleep or awake
Everyone is different. I would turn Ramp off and let the machine do its own thing adjusting the pressure as needed. No point setting the minimum pressure at 4 if you need 8 or 9 to treat your apnea and it,ll cause more leak as pressure ramp up
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - JudgeMental - 09-28-2012
You have a very large window between 4 and 12..especially if you also have a 45 min ramp time. A lot of apneas can appear during that long time at such a low pressure. IF you are using the machine in the CPAP mode then I suggest you raise your starting pressure to around 9 to 10.; and set the ramp to 10min. If you are using the machine in the APAP mode, I would set the bottom at 9 and the top around 12.5-13.
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - trish6hundred - 09-28-2012
Hi TomR1, WELCOME! to the forum.!
RE: What do AHI, AI and Total AI mean? - TomR1 - 09-29-2012
More info:
I set the ramp startuo at 9 the maximum to 11 and thightened the mask down to eliminate leaks. The tight mask was uncomfortable but AHI was 0.6.
What I THINK this tells me is that the apnias were occuring during the ramp or when a leak essentially reduced the pressure. What do you think?