Mechanism for Respiratory Insufficiency After Cervical Cord Injury
Authors: EDWARD H. BERGOFSKY
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1964)

Article1 September 1964Mechanism for Respiratory Insufficiency After Cervical Cord InjuryA Source of Alveolar HypoventilationEDWARD H. BERGOFSKY, M.D.EDWARD H. BERGOFSKY, M.D.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-61-3-435 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptAcute respiratory failure is commonly observed immediately after injury to the cervical portion of the spinal cord in man. In such patients, clinical scrutiny often demonstrates normal or enhanced excursions of the abdomen with paradoxical inspiratory retraction of the rib cage. These observations are in accord with clinical evaluation, which reveals a normally moving diaphragm and a flaccid paralysis of the muscles of the trunk and extremities. As a general rule, the acute postinjury flaccid paralysis of the muscles of the rib cage and trunk passes into a state of spastic paralysis and the paradoxical motion of the rib cage...References1. BOSHES B: Trauma to the spinal cord, in Clinical Neurology. Edited by BAKER, A. B., Harper Bros, New York, 1962. Google Scholar2. HEMINGWAYBORSHOBBY AERP: An investigation of the pulmonary function of paraplegics. J. Clin. Invest. 37: 773, 1958. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. STONEKELTZ DJH: The effect of respiratory muscle dysfunction on pulmonary function: studies in patients with spinal cord injuries. Amer. Rev. Resp. Dis. 88: 621, 1963. MedlineGoogle Scholar4. CUNNINGHAMGUTTMANWHITTERIDGEWYNDHAM DJLDCH: Cardiovascular responses to bladder distensions in paraplegic patients. J. Physiol. 121: 581, 1953. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. BALDWINCOURNANDRICHARDS EDADW: Pulmonary insufficiency. 1. Physiological classification, clinical methods of analysis, standard values in normal subjects. 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Y.This investigation was supported by grant U-1249 of the Health Research Council of the City of New York.Requests for reprints should be addressed to Edward H. Bergofsky, M.D., Department of Physiology, New York University Medical Center, 550 First Ave., New York, N. Y. 10016. 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