Newbie Question on CA Flows

[Bubster]

    Why does each CA event on my flow chart start with a large inhale and exhale just before the no-flow portion?
(See attached).

Just curious,
Eric

[vsheline]

Why does each CA event on my flow chart start with a large inhale and exhale just before the no-flow portion?

Hi Bubster, welcome to Apnea Board!

As far as I know, our systems do not directly sense how much O2 is in our blood. Our systems sense how much CO2 is in our blood, and if the CO2 is too high then we get a stronger urge to breathe more.

A common cause for CA events is breathing deeply and washing out too much CO2. As soon as the CO2 builds up back to normal, we regain the urge to breathe and do so with normal effort. I think this type of CA may be less stressful to our systems than an obstructive apnea where we are struggling to breathe but cannot, leading to greater effort and a more explosive restart of breathing.

Your CAs look normal and I think are nothing to be concerned about. It is considered normal to have a few CAs per hour, as long as the AHI is less than 5.

Take care,
--- Vaughn