the case is 43 years old woman referred to emergency department of our hospital with quadriplegia and severe respiratory insufficiency due to c5-c6 injury after falling. she discharged from icu after fixation of the lesion and successful weaning. we evaluated electrical activity of diaphragm signal (edi), respiratory drive (p100) during one month period. we detected increase in level of electri...

it has been reported that cither lithium or verapamil can potentiate the neuromuscular blocking activity of certain neuromuscular blockers. in the present investigation, possible interaction of verapamil with lithium has been described. the dose ■ response effects of verapamil and lithium on diaphragmatic contractility were assessed in vitro. mechanical responses of the muscle to indirect (nerv...

INTRODUCTION Based on the hypothesis that failure of weaning from mechanical ventilation is caused by respiratory demand exceeding the capacity of the respiratory muscles, we evaluated whether extubation failure could be characterized by increased respiratory drive and impaired efficiency to generate inspiratory pressure and ventilation. METHODS Airway pressure, flow, volume, breathing freque...

1. Innervation and some electrical properties of the locust ventral diaphragm were investigated with electrophysiological and histological methods. 2. Muscle fibres are coupled electrically. Electrical stimulation evokes a graded active membrane response. 3. Each segment is innervated by four motor neurones as follows. Two motor neurones are situated in each abdominal ganglion. Branches of thei...

RATIONALE Acquired diaphragm muscle weakness is a key feature in several chronic conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, and difficult weaning from mechanical ventilation. No drugs are available to improve respiratory muscle function in these patients. Recently, we have shown that the calcium sensitizer levosimendan enhances the force-generating ca...

Introduction Albeit defined as an inspiratory muscle, the diaphragm interacts with the respiratory system also during expiration. The expiratory load on the diaphragm derives from lung volume and hence, possibly from lung collapse. We hypothesized that the diaphragm has a braking effect during the whole expiration, preserving lung patency during SB in collapse prone lungs. We investigated this ...

BACKGROUND Prolonged controlled mechanical ventilation depresses diaphragmatic efficiency. Assisted modes of ventilation should improve it. We assessed the impact of pressure support ventilation versus neurally adjusted ventilator assist on diaphragmatic efficiency. METHOD Patients previously ventilated with controlled mechanical ventilation for 72 hours or more were randomized to be ventilat...