Since the early 1970s there has been an ongoing debate regarding the wisdom of promoting unassisted spontaneous breathing throughout the course of critical illness in patients with severe respiratory failure. The basis of this debate has focused on the clinical relevance of opposite problems. Historically, the term "disuse atrophy" has described a situation wherein sustained inactivity of the r...

The diaphragm is the primary muscle of respiration, and its weakness can lead to respiratory failure. Diaphragmatic palsy can be caused by various causes. Injury to the phrenic nerve during thoracic surgeries is the most common cause for diaphragmatic palsy. Depending on the cause, the symptoms of diaphragmatic palsies vary from completely asymptomatic to disabling dyspnea requiring mechanical ...

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is associated with diaphragmatic oxidative stress that contributes to both diaphragmatic atrophy and contractile dysfunction. However, the pathways responsible for oxidant production in the diaphragm during MV remain unknown. To address this issue, we tested the hypothesis that diaphragmatic nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity is elevated during MV, resulting in nit...

Pericardial-diaphragmatic rupture is a rare condition which occurs after blunt trauma and involves the herniation of abdominal organs into the pericardium. A 77-year-old female patient presenting with complaints of palpitation and difficulty in breathing was admitted to the emergency room. Left lateral thoracotomy revealed the herniation of abdominal organs into the thorax. A pericardial-diaphr...

Vassilakopoulos T, Hussain SN. Ventilatory muscle activation and inflammation: cytokines, reactive oxygen species, and nitric oxide. J Appl Physiol 102: 1687–1695, 2007. First published December 21, 2006; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01273.2006.— Strenuous diaphragmatic contractions that are induced by inspiratory resistive breathing initiate an inflammatory response that involves the elevation of ...

Obesity is a primary risk factor for the development of obstructive sleep apnea in humans, but the impact of obesity on central sleep apnea is less clear. Given the comorbidities associated with obesity in humans, we developed techniques for long-term recording of diaphragmatic EMG activity and polysomnography in obese mice to assess breathing patterns during sleep and to determine the effect o...

Strenuous diaphragmatic contractions that are induced by inspiratory resistive breathing initiate an inflammatory response that involves the elevation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines within the diaphragm, which may then spill into the circulation. The production of reactive oxygen species within working respiratory muscles increases in response to these strenuous diaphragmatic contracti...