Copyright ©ERS Journals Ltd 2001 Proportional positive airway pressure: a new concept to treat obstructive sleep apnoea1 Klinik für Schlafstörungen, Bayerisch Gmain, Germany. 2 Zentrum für Innere Medizin, Philipps-Universität, Schlafmedizinisches Labor, Marburg, Germany CORRESPONDENCE: J. Juhász, Klinik für Schlafstörungen, Reichenhaller Str. 20, 83457, Bayerisch Gmain, Germany. Fax: 49 8651770105 Keywords: continuous positive airway pressure, proportional positive airway pressure, sleep apnoea, sleep stages
Received: October 14, 1999
This
study was supported by a research grant from Respironics Inc., Murrysville,
USA.
Proportional positive airway pressure (PPAP) was designed to optimize airway pressure for the therapy of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). In a randomized crossover prospective study, the clinical feasibility of PPAP and its immediate effects on the breathing disorder and sleep in comparison with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was evaluated. Twelve patients requiring CPAP therapy underwent CPAP and PPAP titration in a random order. Obstructive and mixed respiratory events could be completely abolished with both forms of treatment. This efficacy could be achieved at a significantly lower mean mask pressure during PPAP titration (8.45±2.42 cmH2O) compared to CPAP (9.96±2.7 cmH2O) (p=0.002). The mean minimal arterial oxygen saturation (Sa,O2) (82.8±6.5%) on the diagnostic night increased significantly (p<0.001) to an average Sa,O2 of 93.35±1.71% and 93.19±2.9% during CPAP and PPAP titration. Total sleep time, slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep increased significantly by the same amount during both CPAP and PPAP titration (p<0.001), while sleep stage nonrapid eye movement (NREM) 1 and 2 decreased. Six patients preferred the PPAP titration night, four patients did not have a preference, and two patients preferred CPAP. The present data show that proportional positive airway pressure is as effective as continuous positive airway pressure in eliminating obstructive events and has the same immediate effect on sleep. The lower average mask pressure during proportional positive airway pressure implies potential advantages compared to continuous positive airway pressure. Proportional positive airway pressure presents a new effective therapeutic approach to obstructive sleep apnoea. Although nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) represents the state-of-the-art therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) 13, more attention has recently been paid to unfavourable clinical effects and limiting factors, such as the intolerance of pressure 4, 5 patient compliance and interface difficulties 68. While bilevel positive airway pressure therapy may be effective at lower expiratory pressure 9, it was not found to be superior to CPAP with regards to long-term compliance 10. Despite the undeniable efficacy of these mechanical treatments, they do not provide an optimal pressure adjustment during a breathing cycle. A new concept was conceived to optimize the airway pressure for comfort while compensating for all collapsing forces in proportion to the airflow generated by the patient (proportional positive airway pressure (PPAP)) 11. In a recent article Farré et al. 12 published a similar approach using a flow-dependent positive airway pressure. They found that adopting the applied nasal pressure to the instantaneous flow was effective in a model as well as to treat sleep disordered breathing in nine patients. However, they did not complete a whole night of study and did not evaluate the effects on sleep. In a randomized crossover prospective study PPAP therapy in patients with OSAS to CPAP treatment was compared. The aim of the study was to assess whether: 1) PPAP is an effective method to treat obstructive sleep apnoea, and, 2) if the dynamically changing pressure disturbs sleep with special regard to pressure relief during exhalation.
Patients The study was completed JanuaryJuly 1996 in the sleep laboratory of the Phillips-University in Marburg, Germany. Twelve patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) requiring CPAP therapy were randomly selected (table 1
The concept and technical background of proportional positive airway pressure During spontaneous breathing a pressure gradient exists within the airways. This pressure difference drives the airflow into and out of the lungs (dynamic condition). During inspiration, the lungs and upper airways are at subambient pressure. In OSAS this pressure acts upon the airway and contributes to its narrowing and/or collapse 13. During exhalation a positive pressure gradient exists between the intrapulmonary airways and the outer ambient. This positive pressure gradient helps to keep the airway open during exhalation. At the end of exhalation the pressure gradient is zero (static conditions) and the airway is unaffected by respiratory efforts. Any collapse of the airway at end-expiration is purely a function of the structure of the airway tissues, muscle tone, and body position.
The goal of PPAP is to provide a base pressure (Pbasal) to overcome static collapsing forces (dependent on position,
skeletal structure, shape and tone of airway tissue) while compensating
for variable collapsing forces (dependent on respiratory efforts, flow
effects) by raising the pressure during inspiration, as well as lowering
the pressure below Pbasal to provide comfort during exhalation,
in proportion to flow rate. PPAP is intended to provide positive airway pressure
to a patient via a nasal interface to treat OSAS. The pressure delivered
to the patient is a function of the patient flow rate. This function can be
described as follows:
IPAP/Flowinsp); Gainexhale is the constant used during exhalation (negative
flow) to reduce pressure based on the flow rate (=PR/Flowexp). Inspiratory pressure difference over Pbasal ( IPAP) and pressure relief below Pbasal (PR) values were set manually duringtitration. Gain has values
in the range of 010 cmH2O·L1·s1 for inspiration and has values in the range of 04 cmH2O·L1·s1 for exhalation.
Figure 1a
In comparison with CPAP or bilevel PAP, the base pressure during PPAP is equivalent to the pressure necessary to overcome any static collapsing forces at end-expiration. This is the expiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) typically used in bilevel therapy. An inspiratory pressure difference over Pbasal (EPAP+ IPAP) provides a pressure
level necessary to overcome dynamic collapsing forces during inspiration (equivalent
to CPAP level and IPAP during bilevel therapy). A temporary pressure
relief (PR) can be set to lower the mask pressure below Pbasal that augments exhalation at the starting phase of expiration (fig. 2
The prototype used was based on the blower, valve and pneumotachograph configurations from the BiPAP® (Respironics Inc., Murrysville, USA) system controlled by an external computer. The respiratory parameters were continuously displayed on a monitor and also stored on computer. Technical hurdles consisted of the detection of patient flow in an open system, determining leak as a function of pressure, pressure control and rapid pressure response.
Titration of proportional positive airway pressure
Study design and measurements
Data collection and analysis Polysomnography and sleep stage scoring were completed according to the criteria by Rechtschaffen and Kales [14]. RDI, obstructive and nonobstructive events (apnoeas, hypopnoeas) were scored visually and were assessed separately both for the whole titration night and for the time period under effective PAP, and were compared with data from the diagnostic night. The mean values of TST, WT, nonrapid eye movement (NREM) 1, 2, 34 sleep stages and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep time from diagnostic and both titration nights were compared by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Sleep time, RDI and arousal indices related to different respiratory events were also calculated during the periods of effective pressure and were analysed by ANOVA. The differences in various pressure settings (CPAP versus Pbasal and MIP during PPAP) were analysed and mean mask pressures using a two-tailed t-test. Mean mask pressure both for CPAP and PPAP titration was calculated as the integral of the product of the pressure and time over 20 consecutive regular breathing cycles in stage 2 NREM sleep. The breathing cycles were selected randomly in identical body position during PPAP versus CPAP titration. The mean values of the Sa,O2 for diagnostic and treatment nights were compared. The average values of minimal Sa,O2 during the diagnostic night were collected. For both CPAP and PPAP titration nights, the mean Sa,O2 values were calculated by integrating the product of Sa,O2 and time during the entire period under effective pressure. The differences were evaluated using a two-tailed t-test. The strength of the linear relationship between the variables was analysed by the Pearson product moment correlation. Statistical significance was assumed at p<0.05.
Effects on breathing disorders During the diagnostic measurement all patients presented with severe obstructive sleep disordered breathing with a mean RDI of 82.9±49.27. All obstructive and mixed apnoeas and hypopnoeas could be completely abolished during both titration nights. The numbers of central events increased during both CPAP (4.17±8.16·h1) and PPAP (8.17±17.4·h1) titration compared to baseline (1.67±3.17·h1), however, the difference in central events during CPAP versus PPAP titration was not significant. During arousals on awakenings a large tidal volume corresponding to the first breath that did not persist afterwards, was noticed. The mean minimal Sa,O2 during baseline (82.83±6.46%) increased significantly (p<0.001) to an average Sa,O2 of 93.35±1.71% and 93.19±1.56% during the time period under effective pressure with CPAP and PPAP respectively.
Effective pressure levels
Effects on sleep Total sleep time (TST) increased from baseline (322.61±93.37 min) by 18.5% during CPAP (382.26±69.64 min) and 18% during PPAP (380.63±81.41 min), while wake time decreased by 28.2% and 25.3% respectively. Sleep stage NREM 1 and 2 shortened during both CPAP and PPAP titration to the same degree, while slow wave sleep and REM sleep increased (fig. 4
The arousal index significantly decreased during both treatment nights compared to the diagnostic night. There was no significant difference between the arousal index under CPAP (18.2±6.1 L·h1) and under PPAP (17±5.8·h1).
Patients' judgement
This report summarizes the first comprehensive clinical results demonstrating that PPAP is as effective as CPAP in eliminating both obstructive and mixed respiratory events. The dynamically changing mask pressure within a breathing cycle during PPAP did not disturb sleep or produce an increased number of arousals. The attention of clinicians has recently been gradually drawn to some clinical problems related to the use of CPAP 4, 8. The problem of unnecessarily high expiratory pressure during CPAP was addressed by introducing bilevel PAP 9. The undesirable cardiorespiratory consequences of CPAP in patients with underlying heart and/or respiratory disease has been published 5. Although both CPAP and bilevel PAP therapy is effective and well tolerated by the majority ofthe patients, it is still an unsolved problem that current mechanical therapies do not provide the minimal pressure wave form during the breathing cycle, sufficient to overcome airway collapse. The concept of a flow-dependent PAP was the first approach in taking the advantage of variable collapsing forces to reduce the pressure both during inspiration and expiration.
Approaches to overcome upper airway obstruction PPAP seeks to provide only the pressure that is necessary to prevent collapse at any given moment during the breathing cycle. This will result in supplying maximal pressure corresponding to maximal negative inspiratory pressures and providing minimal pressure support corresponding to peak positive expiratory pressures in the airway. This is the major technical progress of the PPAP system that considers the physiological dynamic supportive forces (e.g. expiratory positive pressure gradient) during a breathing cycle. Thus, PPAP provides sinusoidal airway pressure waveforms approaching physiological requirements.
The effectiveness of PPAP Two patients presented with 18 and 61 central apnoeas/hypopnoeas during PPAP-titration. They had 29 and two central events respectively during CPAP-titration. The latter patient had a body mass index (BMI) of 44.3 kg·m2 and daytime blood gases showed slight hypoxaemia (oxygen tension in arterial blood (Pa,O2): 77 mmHg) and hypocapnia (Pa,CO2: 38 mmHg). Unstable ventilatory control and the additive ventilatory effect of PPAP could have been the cause for the higher number of central events in these patients 21. In the majority of the patients, there were no central events or no differences in central events (<10 events·night1) during CPAP versus PPAP titration (5 pts). The presence of central events in some (essentially predisposed) patients on PPAP should be carefully assessed in further studies, since it could represent a potential drawback to the method. Patients with OSAS have a typically disrupted sleep structure with an increased number of arousals and increased proportion of NREM sleep stages 1 and 2 and depressed slow wave sleep (SWS) as well as REM sleep. CPAP was shown to eliminate obstructive event-related arousals, to increase SWS and REM sleep and to decrease NREM sleep stages 1 and 2, even during the first night 22, 23. The present results proved that the titration with PPAP affected the sleep structure in the same manner, as did CPAP. This was presented by the overall improvement in TST, the distribution of different stages and decrease in the number of arousals. Most of the patients subjectively found the second titration night more comfortable, suggesting habituation to the positive airway pressure treatment. From the responses of the patients, the authors are confident that PPAP was found to be at least as, and not less, comfortable than CPAP.
A limitation of the present study, was that the critical pressure in the
pharynx was not assessed, and an objective measure of flow limitation was
not used, which was only visually controlled on the airflow tracing recorded
by pneumotachograph. In the protocol the titration of effective settings (CPAP, In conclusion, proportional positive airway pressure was found to be as effective as continuous positive airway pressure in eliminating obstructive apnoeas and hypopnoeas, and it produced a comparable effect on sleep. The lower mean mask pressure with the same efficacy suggests the potential advantage for patients having trouble with excessive positive airway pressure. These results demonstrate that proportional positive airway pressure is a clinically feasible effective technical approach for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea. Further clinical studies on a larger group of patients should assess the long-term efficacy of, and patient compliance with proportional positive airway pressure therapy.
The authors would like to thank M. Estes (Respironics Inc.) for his technical co-operation during the clinical measurements and for providing the technical description of the equipment.
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