Leak values?

[KSMatthew]

I have three masks that I’ve been rotating through.  My current mask is a full face that I’ve used for several months.  This past week I’ve used my old nasal mask and nasal pillows to see any differences in AHI values.  I do properly set the mask type on my CPAP when I switch.

The AHI numbers have been pretty close but leaks have been very different.  2L/min on the full face and 23L/min on the other two.

The reason I switched to FF was because of air leak tendencies  through my mouth with other masks.


Is that high leak value an indication of that sort of thing?

[staceyburke]

You can put a dotted line on the leak graph.  It will show the leak rate upper threshold.  Above that dotted line the cpap can NOT regulate the apnea and some apnea will not show up on the graph because it is not identified because of the high leak.

To put the dotted line one the graph move the mouse in the left hand of the graph near the words "?leak rate"?.  Right click the mouse and go down to dotted line and choose the last option  "leak rate upper threshold."

With that being said it is not like a on off switch. Any leak is not a good thing but above the dotted line (for a while) is bad.

[Ratchick]

Yes, if you are leaking through the mouth, that would show up as a general leak. If we had charts, it's possible to look and decide if it's a mouth leak or a mask leak. If you see consistently about the same loss with two different nasal/pillow masks, I am going to guess your mouth is probably the culprit.