Positive airway pressure therapy for heart failure

Figure 7 Adaptive servo-ventilation. Adaptive servo-ventilation devices automatically provide altering pressure support for each inspiration, ranging from a pre-set minimum level to a pre-set maximum level, to maintain moving target ventilation (determined based on volume or flow) determined by the patient’s current breathing in addition to the back-up ventilation with variable respiratory rates. This stabilizes the abnormal breathing pattern (i.e., cheyne-stokes respiration) and maintains the PaCO₂ levels to prevent hypocapnia, which can otherwise trigger apnea reentry cycles. EPAP: Expiratory positive airway pressure; IPAP: inspiratory positive airway pressure; PaCO₂: Arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide; PS: Pressure support.