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Case Reports
. 2025 Feb 1;21(2):421-425.
doi: 10.5664/jcsm.11384.

Unveiling the hidden risks of CPAP device innovations and the necessity of patient-centric testing

Gimbada Benny Mwenge  1 , Giuseppe Liistro  2 , Charlotte Smetcoren  2 , Charlotte Debaille  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Unveiling the hidden risks of CPAP device innovations and the necessity of patient-centric testing

Gimbada Benny Mwenge et al. J Clin Sleep Med. .

Abstract

A 72-year-old patient had a severe sleep apnea syndrome well controlled for many years through continuous positive airway pressure therapy. When switching to a newer device with upgraded functions, therapy completely failed. A video recording performed by the patient's wife showed high-frequency mask movements suggesting inability to maintain a therapeutic pressure with high-frequency pressure fluctuations, confirmed afterwards during full night polysomnography and in a bench study. Continuous positive airway pressure therapy manufacturers may put on the market new devices with supposedly better algorithms that in fact may have escaped serious premarketing evaluation and that may jeopardize the efficacy of a well proven treatment. We suggest that better evaluations are necessary before marketing therapeutic devices, and that postmarketing assessment of unanticipated side effects should become the norm.

Citation: Mwenge GB, Liistro G, Smetcoren C, Debaille C. Unveiling the hidden risks of CPAP device innovations and the necessity of patient-centric testing. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025;21(2):421-425.

Keywords: CPAP; algorithm; sleep apnea; sleepiness.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors provided final approval of the version to be published. Institution where work was performed: Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc, Center for Sleep Medicine Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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