Grimby, G., Fugl-Meyer, A. R., and Blomstrand, A. (1974). Thorax, 29, 179-184. Partitioning of the contributions of rib cage and abdomen to ventilation in ankylosing spondylitis. The relative contributions of the rib cage and abdomen to ventilation were studied in the sitting position in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, using measurements of changes in the anteroposterior diameters. The fu...

Augmentation of inspiratory muscle strength (Pimax) represents an adaptive response to airway obstruction. We explore the possibility that respiratory muscle weakness may herald hospital admission during acute bronchospasm. The Pimax measured 81 +/- 25 percent of a predicted value in 20 patients with acute bronchospasm (forced expiratory volume in one second, 36 +/- 17 percent predicted). Pimax...

Elevation of the ribs and expansion of the rib cage result from the co-ordinated action of the rib cage muscles. We wished to review the action and interaction of the rib cage muscles during ventilation. The parasternal intercostal muscles appear to play a predominant role during quiet breathing, both in humans and in anaesthetized dogs. In humans, the parasternal intercostals act in concert wi...

In this study, we searched for signs of thixotropic behavior in human rib cage respiratory muscles. If rib cage respiratory muscles possess thixotropic properties similar to those seen in other skeletal muscles in animals and humans, we expect resting rib cage circumference would be temporarily changed after deep rib cage inflations or deflations and that these aftereffects would be particularl...

The specific compliance of the chest wall and lungs combined was measured in eight patients with stable tetraplegia. Expiration was impeded with a series of spring-loaded resistances, and end-expiratory pressures plotted against changes in chest wall volume at end-expiration. An optical contour mapping system was used to partition changes in chest wall volume into rib cage and abdominal compone...

Compared with the pursed-lip breathing technique, acute application of portable noninvasive ventilation during recovery from intermittent exercise improved end-expiratory thoracoabdominal dynamic hyperinflation (DH) in 50% patients COPD (DH responders). DH responders, compared nonresponders, exhibited a reduction predominantly driven by abdominal compartment that effectively offset rib cage DH....

This study evaluated the immediate effects of respiratory muscle stretching on chest wall kinematics and electromyographic activity in COPD patients. 28 patients with COPD were randomized into two groups: 14 to the treatment group (TG) and 14 to the control group (CG). The TG underwent a stretching protocol of the rib cage muscles, while the CG remained at rest under similar conditions. After a...

To estimate diaphragm fiber length from thoracoabdominal configuration, we measured axial motion of the right-sided area of apposition by ultrasonography and volumes displaced by chest wall compartments [pulmonary, abdominal rib cage, and abdomen (Vab)] by optoelectronic plethysmography in four normal men during quiet breathing and incremental exercise without and with expiratory flow limitatio...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of chest wall configuration at end expiration on tidal volume (VT) response during CO2 rebreathing. In a group of 11 healthy male subjects, the changes in end-expiratory and end-inspiratory volume of the rib cage (delta Vrc,E and delta Vrc,I, respectively) and abdomen (delta Vab,E and delta Vab,I, respectively) measured by linearized magnet...