Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 113, Issue 6, December 1988, Pages 1074-1077
The Journal of Pediatrics

Abnormalities of diaphragmatic muscle in neonates with ventilated lungs*

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(88)80585-7Get rights and content

Several infants and neonates who had received long-term ventilatory assistance had subnormal diaphragmatic muscle mass on gross necropsy examination. We conducted a retrospective study of our hospital infant necropsy files to determine whether prolonged ventilatory support was associated with diminution in myofiber cross-sectional area selectively affecting the diaphragm. We found that long-term ventilatory assistance may predispose diaphragmatic myofibers to disuse atrophy or to failure of normal growth. This phenomenon may contribute to difficulties in weaning infants from ventilatory support.

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*

Presented in part at the 76th annual meeting of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Chicago, Ill., March 8–13, 1987.

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