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High leak rate affecting treatment... - MDHilz - 12-14-2019
Hello,
Quick question,
I frequently get a high leak rate with my mask well over the 24L threshold that they suggest. I use my mask 7-8 hrs. a night but get high leak rates. How much does that impact the therapy if anyone has had experience with this. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
RE: High leak rate affecting treatment... - ApneaQuestions - 12-14-2019
(12-14-2019, 07:51 PM)MDHil Wrote: ...I frequently get a high leak rate with my mask well over the 24L threshold that they suggest. ...
I'm a relative newbie but I believe that the machines can usually correct for low leaks. Once the leaks get too bad, the data from the pressure sensors becomes unreliable which makes it difficult for the algorithms to know what to do. It also can mean that the OSCAR charts (which show that data) may become misleading in those times of bad leaks.
I suspect that the machines will stop making changes during bad leaks to avoid making poor choices...not certain... it seems wise though.
There's a UI option in OSCAR to put grey/gray shading in those regions on the graphs to emphasize that large leaks are happening and give you a heads up.
RE: High leak rate affecting treatment... - ApneaQuestions - 12-15-2019
(12-14-2019, 08:05 PM)ApneaQuestions Wrote:Here's data from last night for me..(12-14-2019, 07:51 PM)MDHil Wrote: ...I frequently get a high leak rate with my mask well over the 24L threshold that they suggest. ...
....I suspect that the machines will stop making changes during bad leaks to avoid making poor choices...not certain... it seems wise though.
There's a UI option in OSCAR to put grey/gray shading in those regions on the graphs to emphasize that large leaks are happening and give you a heads up.
Notice that..
1) between 5:00 and 5:20 I was having "Large Leaks" (Presumably I got into a position that made the mask slip... it's hard to know for sure) In my case the leaks were 30-32. I don't know if that matches what you called "well above 24L".
2) the grey shading in OSCAR gives us a heads up on the other graphs that large leaks are happening (also on top in the events graph)
3) The machine continued to adjust pressures during those leaks and did not take the "do nothing for the time being" strategy. (See the steps in pressure during these leaks).
4) Those pressure changes look like they are in response to the apparent flow limitations happening around that time.
This doesn't answer your initial question "Are high leaks affecting treatment?" but you can see that my machine continues to try.
If those apparent flow limitations are real then the machine is doing the right things.
RE: High leak rate affecting treatment... - ApneaQuestions - 12-19-2019
I thought of your question as I read this.....
Page 74 of this 77 pdf contains the attached image
http://www.masm.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/2016%20mEETING/13%20-%20Understanding%20ASV%20Therapy%20-%20Morgan.pdf
On that slide, the author felt that the AHI looked better when the leaks were controlled better.
I take that to imply that large leaks can possibly adversely impact the therapy.
Of course, without seeing the details of the study that produced that data we can't know for sure if there was something else going on to explain the apparent correlation between Leaks and AHI.