Choose Location

We provide care in three easily-accessible locations across the Rio Grande Valley.

Weslaco

1604 East 8th St., Suite A
Weslaco, TX
Phone: (956) 447-5557

McAllen

5300 North McColl Rd., Suite 100
McAllen, TX
Phone: (956) 630-1000

Mission

1022 E. Griffin Pkwy.
Mission, TX 78572
Phone: (956) 833-6000

Sleep

Volume-Assured Pressure Support (VAPS)

VAPS units act as bi-level pressure support ventilators to mitigate hypoventilation by providing a constant tidal volume, the volume of air inspired or expired in a single breath during regular breathing. VAPS units automatically adjust pressure support to maintain an optimal consistent tidal volume in which IPAP automatically increases or decreases to maintain an idealized target tidal volume.

How Do You Know If You Need VAPS?

If you are concerned about a possible sleep disorder, you can get a sleep study at one of our accredited sites in Weslaco and McAllen. Here, our sleep specialists monitor and record your sleep in a modern, safe, and secure sleep lab. Your rest is carefully monitored and recorded, including your brain waves, eye movements, muscle activity, breathing effort and airflow, blood oxygen level, heart rate and rhythm, the duration of your stages of sleep, body positions, and movements of your arms and legs while sleeping. Once your sleep study is complete and has been scored, your sleep specialist will analyze the results to determine whether you require treatment for a sleep disorder.

VAPS Treatment

VAPS units automatically adjust pressure support to maintain an optimal consistent tidal volume in which IPAP automatically increases or decreases to maintain an idealized target tidal volume. The pressure support (the I-E difference) required for an adequate tidal volume may vary for a given patient during the night or from night to night depending on changes in the patient’s muscle strength or function (including changes during REM sleep).

Two VAPS devices are currently available in the United States: Average Volume-Assured Pressure Support (AVAPS, marketed by Phillips Respironics) and Intelligent Volume-Assured Pressure Support (iVAPS, marketed by ResMed). Our Center generally employs the AVAPS device to treat patients for whom hypoventilation (elevated CO2) is a primary feature. Conditions we treat include obesity hypoventilation syndrome, neuromuscular disorders, and chest wall disorders, especially hypoventilation syndromes that have responded suboptimally to prior BPAP titrations.

VAPS titrations enable the selection of a level of EPAP that eliminates obstructive respiratory events while documenting that the device has delivered an adequate tidal volume. Newer units automatically identify and set optimal levels of EPAP, relieving the technologist of the task of manually identifying and setting EPAP levels that eliminate obstructive respiratory events over the course of the titration night.