The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of unilateral diaphragmatic reinnervation in humans by the inferior laryngeal nerve. This pilot study included chronically ventilated tetraplegic patients with destruction of phrenic nerve motoneurons. Five patients were included. They all had a high level of tetraplegia, with phrenic nerve motor neuron destruction. They were highly dependen...

Retrograde tracing with a fluorescent dye (Fast Blue) combined with immunohistochemistry was used to identify putative neurotransmitter(s) at the phrenic motor nucleus in the cat. Fast Blue was injected bilaterally into the diaphragm of five cats, where each phrenic nerve enters the muscle. Seven days later the animals were perfusion fixed and tissue sections from the fourth, fifth, and sixth c...

OBJECTIVES Phrenic nerve stimulation for diaphragm pacing allows patients with central respiratory paralysis to be weaned from mechanical ventilation. Two procedures are available, either intrathoracic (bilateral thoracotomy) or intradiaphragmatic (four ports laparoscopy). The present experimental work assesses the feasibility, safety and efficacy of a trans-mediastinal implantation of intradia...

The purpose of this study was to explore learning and memory in the Hering-Breuer (HB) reflex simulated by a 60-second-long electrical stimulation of vagus nerve. The responses of phrenic nerve discharge to electrical stimulation (10-100 Hz, 20-60 muA, pulse duration 0.3 ms, for 60 s) of the vagus nerve were observed in rabbits. The results showed that 60-second-long stimulation of vagus nerve ...

U NILATERAL diaphragm paralysis after interscalene nerve block can result in respiratory disturbances that may have a substantial impact on quality of life and increased prevalence of respiratory infections. Several reports have estimated the incidence of transient diaphragm paralysis after routine interscalene blocks for shoulder surgery to be 100%, 3 however, with modified local anesthetic do...

A 65 year old female patient developed a large left pleural effusion and a sternal split dehiscence following aorto-coronary artery bypass grafting. A second operation was performed to investigate and drain the pleural effusion and to repair the sternum. Subsequent to this operation the patient was in acute respiratory failure due to bilateral phrenic palsy. It is probable that the left phrenic...

Fig. 1. A chest computed tomography showed a 5.5 4.5 cm sized, homogeneous, non-enhancing cystic mass with a well-defined border, situated beside the left pericardium superior to the diaphragm (A, B). Thoracoscopic view of the cyst, located at the left cardiophrenic angle which was adherent to the diaphragm and pericardium anterior to the phrenic nerve. The wall was smooth and somewhat transpar...

Hypercapnic blood was injected into the vertebral artery in anesthetized and paralyzed cats. The stimulating effect on the phrenic nerve activity was dependent on the injection rate, duration, and PCO2 level of the injected blood. The time delay from the start of injection to the onset of increase in phrenic nerve activity was inversely proportional to both the injection rate and the PCO2 of in...