Case 1 involved a 70-year-old man with a medical history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension (HT), and rectal cancer. He had a body mass index (BMI) of 28.3kg/m2 and a score of 2 on Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and was scheduled for an open abdominal surgery. One day prior to the surgery, he performed an apnea test (via ApneaLink™) between 00:00 and 06:00 am which yielded the following results: AHI: 17/hr, AI: 3/hr, HI: 14/hr; ODI: 3/hr, minimum SpO2 (min. SpO2) 79%, and maximum HR (max. HR): 124/min. A decision was made for postoperative ICU follow-up of the patient.\nFollowing the three-hour long surgery, the intubated patient was admitted to the ICU, where he was extubated four hours later and given O2 mask support (5L/min). The results of an apnea test conducted on the operation day between 00:00 and 06:00 am were as follows: AHI: 21/hr, AI: 4/hr, HI: 17/hr, ODI: 1/hr, min. SpO2: 84%, and max. HR:131/min. It was decided that he should be scheduled for postoperative noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) support (Table ).
Case 5 involved an 80-year-old man with a diagnosis of HT and DM. He had a BMI of 27.7kg/m2 and presented to the emergency department with a high sleep tendency and plegia on the left side. A right thalamic and cerebellar infarction was detected in his cranial diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. He was admitted to the ICU with GCS score of 4. He was followed-up on in the ICU for 38 days and tracheostomized on day 21. The results of the apnea test conducted on day 26 between 00:00 and 06:00 am with the tracheostomy mask (5L/min O2) were as follows: AHI 18/hr, AI: 6/hr, HI: 12/hr, ODI: 3/hr, min. SpO2: 89%, and max HR: 83/min. It was decided he should be scheduled to be discharged as tracheostomized, with home care conditions assured under home ventilator support (Table ).