Can a sleep apnea machine help people with collapsing airways walk farther?
NCT ID NCT04217603
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether using a CPAP machine during a 6-minute walk test helps people with excessive central airway collapse (ECAC) walk farther and feel less breathless. ECAC is a condition where the central airways narrow or collapse during breathing, making exercise difficult. Researchers will compare CPAP to a sham device in 32 adults, measuring walking distance, breathing effort, and cough. CPAP is already FDA-approved for sleep apnea but not for ECAC.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device
- What this could lead to
- If it works, CPAP could become a non-invasive way to improve exercise capacity and reduce shortness of breath in people with excessive central airway collapse.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage trial with only 32 participants. CPAP is not yet approved for this condition, and the sham comparison may show no meaningful benefit.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 32 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Mar 2023
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patient with a diagnosis of ECAC either via bronchoscopy or CT Scan * Age \> 18 years * Patients that will undergo a diagnostic or therapeutic bronchoscopy as part of their standard of care * Patients with a baseline 6 MWT * Patients that have never used CPAP devices in the past Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with poorly-controlled respiratory comorbidities (asthma, COPD, obstructed sleep apnea, GERD, relapsing polychondritis) * No evidence for acute respiratory tract infection, or respiratory tract infection within the prior 3 weeks * Resting bradycardia (\<50 beats/min), frequent multifocal PVCs, complex ventricular arrhythmia, sustained SVT * Dysrhythmia that might pose a risk during exercise or training * Any disease or condition that interferes with completion of initial or follow-up assessments * Subject has co-morbidities that may significantly reduce subject's ability to improve exercise capacity (e.g., severe arthritis, planned knee surgery) or baseline limitation on 6MWT is not due to dyspnea. * Subject has an inability to walk \>140m (150 yd) in 6 minutes * Subject has an inability to tolerate bronchoscopy under moderate sedation or general anesthesia. * Subject has a known sensitivity to drugs required to perform bronchoscopy.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
RECRUITINGBoston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States
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