Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) often hypoventilate during sleep with marked falls in oxygen saturation (SaO2%). This occurs most commonly during REM sleep, when there is a reduction in rib cage excursion and a fall in end-expiratory lung volume (EELV). The aim of this study was to examine the effect of nocturnal nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) on SaO2 and the respiratory d...

BACKGROUND Numerous studies have attempted to quantify the correlation between the surface deformity and the Cobb angle without considering growth as an important factor that may influence this correlation. In our series, we noticed that in some younger referred children from the school-screening program there is a discrepancy between the thoracic scoliometer readings and the morphology of thei...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to assess how volume-oriented incentive spirometry applied to patients after a stroke modifies the total and compartmental chest wall volume variations, including both the right and left hemithoraces, compared with controls. METHODS Twenty poststroke patients and 20 age-matched healthy subjects were studied by optoelectronic plethysmography during s...

To the Editor: Thanks to the JAOA for the concise January 2000 supplement on osteoporosis. One small addition that would be especially relevant to osteopathic practice is specific inclusion of upper back extension exercises in the management of osteoporosis. Loss of height, the most clinically available indicator of osteoporotic vertebral wedging and compression fractures, is preceded by loss o...

Purpose Children have few small alveoli, which reduce lung compliance; in contrast, their cartilaginous rib cage makes chest wall highly compliant. This combination promotes collapse. Prolonged inspiratory to expiratory (I:E) ratio ventilation is used optimize gas exchange and respiratory mechanics surgery. However, the optimal unclear children. We hypothesized that, compared a 1:2 I:E ratio, 1...

Several techniques exist for assessing chest wall movements in children, that incorporate different measurement principles. Although the output from such devices appears very similar, the comparability of data from different devices needs to be evaluated. We have investigated the simultaneous measurement of chest wall movement using three different devices in 12 children recovering from intensi...

BACKGROUND Cerebellar and cerebral infarctions caused by the syndrome of cervical rib with thrombosis of subclavian artery are very unusual. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 49-year-old male patient with a right cervical rib compression leading to subclavian arterial thrombosis and both cerebellar and cerebral infarctions secondary to retrograde thromboembolisation. Follow-up imaging...

We have previously demonstrated in dogs that the change in airway opening pressure (DeltaPao) produced by isolated maximum activation of the parasternal intercostal or triangularis sterni muscle in a single interspace, the sternomastoids, and the scalenes is proportional to the product of muscle mass and the fractional change in muscle length per unit volume increase of the relaxed chest wall. ...