Apico-basal diameters of the lungs and mediastinal shift in phrenic nerve crush and pneumoperitoneum therapy; a study of eighty cases.

The objects of this paper are (a) to report on a study of mediastinal shift and apico-basal diameters of the lungs in a series of 80 patients undergoing phrenic nerve crush and pneumoperitoneum therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis: (b) to discuss the mechanism and therapeutic significance of the mediastinal shift. Although studies of mediastinal shift following phrenic nerve paralysis alone have been reported by Nehil and Alexander (1933) and Hansen and Maly (1934), no previous study of mediastinal shift following phrenic nerve crush and pneumoperitoneum therapy has been found in a search of the literature.