title: Mask leakage in continuous positive airway pressure and C-Flex.
abstract: Many patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) receiving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) complain of leaky masks or too high pressure during expiration. C-Flex is a breathing mode with a constant CPAP pressure during inspiration and a reduced pressure during expiration. We compared the leakage data between CPAP and C-Flex and their influence on patients' compliance. Thirty patients (22 men, 8 women, aged 55.4 +/- 11.7 yr, BMI 32.0 +/- 7.4 kg/m(2)) with polysomnographically diagnosed OSAS got a CPAP or C-Flex therapy in a randomized double-blind and cross-over design. After 6 weeks, an adjustment to the other mode followed. Leakage data were sampled during all polysomnographic examinations. Twelve patients dropped out of the study (7 after C-Flex, 5 after CPAP), 4 of them gave up CPAP therapy completely (2 after CPAP, 2 after C-Flex). The leakage in CPAP mode was 27.5 +/-11.5 l/min and in C-Flex mode 28.0 +/-10 l/min (ns). The average nightly use in CPAP mode was 350.0 +/- 70.2 min and in C-Flex mode 347.0 +/- 70.8 min (ns). In the final decision of therapy, 9 patients chose C-Flex and 4 patients CPAP (P=0.001). Five patients had no preference regarding the therapy mode. There is no difference in leakage and compliance between CPAP and C-Flex. But significantly more patients decided for a therapy with the C-Flex mode. There must be other unknown factors that influence the decision for the mode of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Kliniken St. Antonius - Akademisches Lehrkrankenhaus der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Lungenzentrum - Klinik für Pneumologie, Allergologie, Schlaf- und Beatmungsmedizin, Wuppertal, Germany. marcus.leidag@antonius.de
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leidag
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hader
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rasche
mesh_terms: D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D017286:Polysomnography; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen