NCPAP TREATMENT INTERRUPTION IN OSA PATIENTS

This study has investigated the effect of interrupting nasal continuou s positive airway pressure (nCPAP) therapy on 10 obstructive sleep apn oea (OSA) patients (nine male, one female) (53.6 +/- 7.3 years) treate d over 2 years. The effect of nCPAP interruption was determined by var iations in sleep counts and gasometric values during five consecutive nights. On the first night, the patient used his habitual nCPAP. On th e remaining nights, nasal nCPAP was not applied.The apnoea-hypopnoea i ndex (AHI) was found to increase significantly in the second night, at taining a similar level to that of the basal study (2 years ago). SaO( 2) minimum decreased and PaCO2 increased in the second night with resp ect to the first night. The interruption of nCPAP therapy in OSA patie nts treated over a long period of time increases the sleep counts and impairs the gasometric parameters. Consequently, any change in nCPAP t ime therapy must be checked to avoid negative effects.