Postoperative pulmonary complications are responsible for significant increases in hospital cost as well as patient morbidity and mortality; respiratory muscle dysfunction represents a contributing factor. Upper airway dilator muscles functionally resist the upper airway collapsing forces created by the respiratory pump muscles. Standard perioperative medications (anesthetics, sedatives, opioid...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary involvement is frequently observed in patients with limb girdle muscular dystrophy and occurs early in the disease. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of pulmonary dysfunction; the type of dysfunction; and any correlation between patient age, disease duration, or limb weakness and lung or respiratory muscle dysfunction. METHODS Twenty patients with stri...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the time-courses of lung function and respiratory muscle pressure generating capacity after spinal cord injury. DESIGN Multi-centre, prospective cohort study. SUBJECTS One hundred and nine subjects with recent, motor complete spinal cord injury. METHODS Lung function and respiratory muscle pressure generating capacity were measured at first mobilization, at discha...

Respiratory muscles are essential to alveolar ventilation. These muscles work against increased mechanical loads due to airflow limitation and geometrical changes of the thorax derived from pulmonary hyperinflation. Respiratory muscle fibres show several degrees of impairment in cellular and subcellular structures which, in many cases, are proportional to the severity of the disease and accompa...

BACKGROUND There have been limited comparative data regarding the investigations on pulmonary and respiratory muscle function in the patients with different parkinsonism disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) versus normal elderly. The present study is aiming to characterize the performance of pulmonary function and respiratory muscle strength in PD and MSA...

Two women with connective tissue disease developed a characteristic steroid-induced myopathy. Reduced maximal transrespiratory pressures indicated reduced respiratory muscle strength. Gradual steroid dosage tapering resulted in prompt clinical improvement and marked increases in respiratory muscle strength, maximal inspiratory pressure increasing by 33 percent in one patient and by 70 percent i...

Background: X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is caused by mutations in the MTM1 gene, leading to absent or dysfunctional myotubularin, respiratory failure and profound muscle weakness at birth, early death.