The action of the canine diaphragm on the lower ribs depends on activation

2011 ◽  
Vol 111 (5) ◽  
pp. 1266-1271 ◽  
Author(s):  
André De Troyer
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Phrenic Nerve ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Pleural Pressure ◽  
Phrenic Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Nerve Roots ◽  
Neural Drive ◽  
Airway Opening ◽  
Phrenic Nerves ◽  
Spontaneously Breathing

Conventional wisdom maintains that the diaphragm lifts the lower ribs during isolated contraction. Recent studies in dogs have shown, however, that supramaximal, tetanic stimulation of the phrenic nerves displaces the lower ribs caudally and inward. In the present study, the hypothesis was tested that the action of the canine diaphragm on these ribs depends on the magnitude of muscle activation. Two experiments were performed. In the first, the C5 and C6 phrenic nerve roots were selectively stimulated in 6 animals with the airway occluded, and the level of diaphragm activation was altered by adjusting the stimulation frequency. In the second experiment, all the inspiratory intercostal muscles were severed in 7 spontaneously breathing animals, so that the diaphragm was the only muscle active during inspiration, and neural drive was increased by a succession of occluded breaths. The changes in airway opening pressure and the craniocaudal displacements of ribs 5 and 10 were measured in each animal. The data showed that 1) contraction of the diaphragm causes the upper ribs to move caudally; 2) during phrenic nerve stimulation, the lower ribs move cranially when the level of diaphragm activation is low, but they move caudally when the level of muscle activation is high and the entire rib cage is exposed to pleural pressure; and 3) during spontaneous diaphragm contraction, however, the lower ribs always move cranially, even when neural drive is elevated and the change in pleural pressure is large. It is concluded that the action of the diaphragm on the lower ribs depends on both the magnitude and the mode of muscle activation. These findings can reasonably explain the apparent discrepancies between previous studies. They also imply that observations made during phrenic nerve stimulation do not necessarily reflect the physiological action of the diaphragm.

Mechanism of the lung-deflating action of the canine diaphragm at extreme lung inflation

2012 ◽  
Vol 112 (8) ◽  
pp. 1311-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri Leduc ◽  
Matteo Cappello ◽  
Pierre Alain Gevenois ◽  
André De Troyer
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Phrenic Nerve ◽  
Pleural Pressure ◽  
Phrenic Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Lung Volumes ◽  
Lung Inflation ◽  
Lower Lung ◽  
Airway Opening ◽  
Radiopaque Markers ◽  
Phrenic Nerves

When lung volume in animals is passively increased beyond total lung capacity (TLC; transrespiratory pressure = +30 cmH2O), stimulation of the phrenic nerves causes a rise, rather than a fall, in pleural pressure. It has been suggested that this was the result of inward displacement of the lower ribs, but the mechanism is uncertain. In the present study, radiopaque markers were attached to muscle bundles in the midcostal region of the diaphragm and to the tenth rib pair in five dogs, and computed tomography was used to measure the displacement, length, and configuration of the muscle and the displacement of the lower ribs during relaxation at seven different lung volumes up to +60 cmH2O transrespiratory pressure and during phrenic nerve stimulation at the same lung volumes. The data showed that 1) during phrenic nerve stimulation at 60 cmH2O, airway opening pressure increased by 1.5 ± 0.7 cmH2O; 2) the dome of the diaphragm and the lower ribs were essentially stationary during such stimulation, but the muscle fibers still shortened significantly; 3) with passive inflation beyond TLC, an area with a cranial concavity appeared at the periphery of the costal portion of the diaphragm, forming a groove along the ventral third of the rib cage; and 4) this area decreased markedly in size or disappeared during phrenic stimulation. It is concluded that the lung-deflating action of the isolated diaphragm beyond TLC is primarily related to the invaginations in the muscle caused by the acute margins of the lower lung lobes. These findings also suggest that the inspiratory inward displacement of the lower ribs commonly observed in patients with emphysema (Hoover's sign) requires not only a marked hyperinflation but also a large fall in pleural pressure.

Validation of improved recording site to measure phrenic conduction from surface electrodes in humans

2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 967-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Verin ◽  
Christian Straus ◽  
Alexandre Demoule ◽  
Philippe Mialon ◽  
Jean-Philippe Derenne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Phrenic Nerve ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Conduction Time ◽  
Phrenic Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Recording Site ◽  
Serratus Anterior ◽  
Surface Electrodes ◽  
Phrenic Nerves

Phrenic nerve stimulation, electrical (ES) or from cervical magnetic stimulation (CMS), allows one to assess the diaphragm contractile properties and the conduction time of the phrenic nerve (PNCT) through recording of an electromyographic response, traditionally by using surface electrodes. Because of the coactivation of extradiaphragmatic muscles, signal contamination can jeopardize the determination of surface PNCTs. To address this, we compared PNCTs with ES and CMS from surface and needle diaphragm electrodes in five subjects (10 phrenic nerves). At a modified recording site, lower and more anterior than usual (lowest accessible intercostal space, costochondral junction) with electrodes 2 cm apart, surface and needle PNCTs were similar (CMS: 6.0 ± 0.25 ms surface vs. 6.2 ± 0.13 ms needle, not significant). Electrodes recording the activity of the most likely sources of signal contamination, i.e., the serratus anterior and pectoralis major, showed distinct responses from that of the diaphragm, their earlier occurrence strongly arguing against contamination. With ES and CMS, apparently uncontaminated signals could be consistently recorded from surface electrodes.

Effect of diaphragmatic contraction on the action of the canine parasternal intercostals

2006 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
André De Troyer ◽  
Dimitri Leduc
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Muscle Length ◽  
Antagonistic Effect ◽  
Intercostal Muscle ◽  
Phrenic Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Opening Pressure ◽  
Lung Expansion ◽  
Airway Opening ◽  
Phrenic Nerves ◽  
External Loads

The inspiratory intercostal muscles enhance the force generated by the diaphragm during lung expansion. However, whether the diaphragm also alters the force developed by the inspiratory intercostals is unknown. Two experiments were performed in dogs to answer the question. In the first experiment, external, cranially oriented forces were applied to the different rib pairs to assess the effect of diaphragmatic contraction on the coupling between the ribs and the lung. The fall in airway opening pressure (ΔPao) produced by a given force on the ribs was invariably greater during phrenic nerve stimulation than with the diaphragm relaxed. The cranial rib displacement (Xr), however, was 40–50% smaller, thus indicating that the increase in ΔPao was exclusively the result of the increase in diaphragmatic elastance. In the second experiment, the parasternal intercostal muscle in the fourth interspace was selectively activated, and the effects of diaphragmatic contraction on the ΔPao and Xr caused by parasternal activation were compared with those observed during the application of external loads on the ribs. Stimulating the phrenic nerves increased the ΔPao and reduced the Xr produced by the parasternal intercostal, and the magnitudes of the changes were identical to those observed during external rib loading. It is concluded, therefore, that the diaphragm has no significant synergistic or antagonistic effect on the force developed by the parasternal intercostals during breathing. This lack of effect is probably related to the constraint imposed on intercostal muscle length by the ribs and sternum.

Effect of lung volume on in vivo contraction characteristics of human diaphragm

1987 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1893-1900 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Smith ◽  
F. Bellemare
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Lung Volume ◽  
Phrenic Nerve ◽  
Pleural Pressure ◽  
Normal Male ◽  
Contraction Time ◽  
Phrenic Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Transdiaphragmatic Pressure ◽  
Gastric Pressure

We performed transcutaneous bilateral phrenic nerve stimulation at varying lung volumes between residual volume (RV) and total lung capacity (TLC) in six normal male volunteers. Peak twitch transdiaphragmatic pressure declined from 49.1 +/- 9.1 (SD) cmH2O at RV to 19.6 +/- 5.97 (SD) cmH2O at TLC. Twitch contraction time fell from 91.8 +/- 11.3 (SD) ms at RV to 57.7 +/- 7.4 (SD) ms at TLC. There was a good correlation between changes in contraction time and transdiaphragmatic pressure (r = 0.7). The fall in transdiaphragmatic pressure was almost all due to a fall in pleural pressure, with little change in gastric pressure between RV and TLC. At TLC the pleural pressure in response to phrenic nerve stimulation was -0.58 cmH2O. We conclude that, as lung volume increases and the diaphragm shortens, it becomes less effective as a pressure generator and that pressure it generates is less well converted into useful inspiratory pressure. At a lung volume close to TLC, the diaphragm ceases to act as an inspiratory muscle.

Role of the mediastinum in the mechanics of the canine diaphragm

2010 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
André De Troyer ◽  
Matteo Cappello ◽  
Dimitri Leduc ◽  
Pierre Alain Gevenois
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Phrenic Nerve ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Vena Cava ◽  
Muscle Length ◽  
Phrenic Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Lung Volumes ◽  
Airway Opening ◽  
Generating Capacity

The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of the mediastinum in the mechanics of the canine diaphragm. Two sets of experiments were performed. In the first experiment on five animals, the mediastinum was severed from the sternum to the vena cava, and radiopaque markers were attached to muscle bundles in the midcostal region of the diaphragm. The three-dimensional location of the markers during relaxation at different lung volumes and during phrenic nerve stimulation at the same lung volumes was then measured using computed tomography. From these data, accurate measurements of muscle displacement and muscle length were obtained, and these measurements, together with the changes in airway opening pressure, were compared with those previously obtained in animals with an intact mediastinum. Severing the mediastinum per se appeared to have no influence on the pressure-generating capacity of the diaphragm or on the lung-volume dependence of this capacity. The great vessels and the esophagus in these animals, however, were left intact, so the possibility remained that these structures continued to impact on the diaphragm through their close attachments to the muscle. In the second experiment, therefore, loads were applied caudally to the central tendon to assess the force-displacement relationship of the entire mediastinum, and this relationship, combined with the known displacement of the diaphragm dome during phrenic nerve stimulation, was used to infer the force exerted by the mediastinum on the muscle during contraction. The results showed that this force is small compared with that developed by the diaphragm, except at very high lung volumes. It is concluded, therefore, that the mediastinum has only little influence on the mechanics of the canine diaphragm.

Botzinger complex region role in phrenic-to-phrenic inhibitory reflex of cat

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 1364-1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Speck
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Phrenic Nerve ◽  
Inhibitory Response ◽  
Phrenic Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Bötzinger Complex ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Bilateral Lesions ◽  
Decerebrate Cats ◽  
Inhibitory Reflex

Neuronal recordings, microstimulation, and electrolytic and chemical lesions were used to examine the involvement of the Botzinger Complex (BotC) in the bilateral phrenic-to-phrenic inhibitory reflex. Experiments were conducted in decerebrate cats that were paralyzed, ventilated, thoracotomized, and vagotomized. Microelectrode recordings within the BotC region revealed that some neurons were activated by phrenic nerve stimulation (15 of 69 expiratory units, 9 of 67 inspiratory units, and 19 nonrespiratory-modulated units) at average latencies similar to the onset latency of the phrenic-to-phrenic inhibition. In addition, microstimulation within the BotC caused a short latency transient inhibition of phrenic motor activity. In 17 cats phrenic neurogram responses to threshold and supramaximal (15 mA) stimulation of phrenic nerve afferents were recorded before and after electrolytic BotC lesions. In 15 animals the inhibitory reflex was attenuated by bilateral lesions. Because lesion of either BotC neurons or axons of passage could account for this attenuation, in eight experiments the phrenic-to-phrenic inhibitory responses were recorded before and after bilateral injections of 5 microM kainic acid (30–150 nl) into the BotC. After chemical lesions, the inhibitory response to phrenic nerve stimulation remained; however, neuronal activity typical of the BotC could not be located. These results suggest that axons important in producing the phrenic-to-phrenic reflex pass through the region of the BotC, but that BotC neurons themselves are not necessary for this reflex.

Mapping for Acute Transvenous Phrenic Nerve Stimulation Study (MAPS Study)

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-300
Author(s):  
LUKAS R.C. DEKKER ◽  
BART GERRITSE ◽  
AVRAM SCHEINER ◽  
LILIAN KORNET
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Phrenic Nerve ◽  
Phrenic Nerve Stimulation
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document