EDITORIAL
Nasal CPAP in OSA
How best to determine optimal nasal CPAP in patients with OSAH?
Respiratory Division, Vancouver Hospital, Vancouver, Canada V5Z 3J5
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr J A Fleetham
Respiratory Division, Vancouver Hospital, Vancouver, Canada V5Z 3J5; john.fleetham@vch.ca
Optimal CPAP pressure can be determined without in-laboratory CPAP titration. Doubt remains as to whether long term CPAP treatment reduces blood pressure in patients with OSAH
Keywords: obstructive sleep apnoea; nasal continuous positive airway pressure; treatment; outcomes
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the primary treatment for symptomatic patients with obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea (OSAH). The best method for determining the optimal CPAP pressure is an ongoing subject of scrutiny. Both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine1 and the American Thoracic Society2 recommend supervised CPAP titration during overnight polysomnography, based on the premise that the early establishment of optimal CPAP pressure will improve compliance with treatment. However, a recent large multicentre study3 has challenged the validity of in-laboratory CPAP titration by showing that this approach has no advantage when compared with ambulatory methods. In this issue of Thorax, West and colleagues4 further advance the case for simpler methods of CPAP pressure determination in the home.
OSAH is a common condition for which there is often limited access to appropriate diagnostic testing.5 A number of strategies have been proposed to streamline the diagnosis
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Thorax 2006 61: 183.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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