Expert: Dave Walsh RRT - 3/21/2007

Question
Dave, I have been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I am 34yr old male, 6ft 223LBS. I have been trying to find some other peoples tests on the Internet to find out what all of the numbers and graphs mean and how I compare to them. I have had an average of 80 events per hour and the max was over 90. My o2 levels did not drop that much. I did the testing for a CPAP and my pressure has been set for about 9cm. What is the worst number of events you have seen and where can I find other diagnosis to look at?

Answer
Martin:

Glad you stopped by AllExperts.Com!

I'm not sure if you will find "other peoples tests on the Internet" but perhaps I don't understand your question about that.  In any event, your "events per hour" number is what we refer to as the RDI (Respiratory Disturbance Index) of the sleep study.  An RDI of five or greater is consistent with the syndrome and an RDI greater than twenty is considered by most to represent severe OSAS.  So it appears you are well into the severe range; the worst I have seen is an RDI of >100.

If you have not done so already, may I suggest some personal research on obstructive sleep apnea?  Stop by www.drwassociates.com for general information and good links regarding sleep disordered breathing.

Hope this helps.  If after your research you have any particular questions about the diagnostics and/or therapeutics used in obstructive sleep apnea, please let me know.  In the meantime, I wish good health and a good night's sleep:)