This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (13)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Clarence A. Guenter, MD; William A. Whitelaw, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1979;139(7):806-808.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Respiratory failure resulting from impaired function of the diaphragm is being recognized with increasing frequency. However, most clinicians are much more familiar with the neuroanatomical aspects of this muscle than its role in ventilation and gas exchange. Galen learned, by cutting the spinal cord at various levels in experimental pigs, that the diaphragm alone was capable of sustaining life, but a vigorous debate continues to the present day about th( exact contribution of the diaphragm to normal breathing at rest, during exercise, and in disease. In the last two decades several new techniques and concepts have been applied to the evaluation of diaphragm function and management of dysfunction. Most of the conclusions in older literature need to be reviewed in the context of the new data. This review is presented to emphasize clinical implications of new ideas in this area.

NORMAL DIAPHRAGM FUNCTION

The diaphragm is a contractile membrane attached . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine, and Foothills Provincial Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Jan 8, 1979.

Reprint requests to Foothills Hospital, 1403 29th St NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 2T9 (Dr Guenter).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?