Hemidiaphragmatic paralysis and paresis of unknown aetiology without any marked rise in level.

Apart from eventration very little has been written about paralysis of the hemidiaphragm occurring without obvious cause. It is mentioned by Perry (1952), and Couch in 1953 reported 11 cases of paralysis of undetermined cause. The purpose of this paper is to report 10 cases of paralysis of the hemidiaphragm and five cases of partial paralysis (paresis) for which no cause was found during the period of observation. All were associated with a small or moderate rise in the level of the affected dome. Three cases of eventration of the diaphragm and one of dissociated paresis due to prophylactic inoculation are also reported briefly to provide added material for discussing the relationship between the type of paralysis described here and eventration as well as its aetiology.