Premium
Airway pressures during crying: An index of respiratory muscle strength in infants with neuromuscular disease
Author(s) -
Shardonofsky Felix Roberto,
PerezChada Daniel,
MilicEmili Joseph
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
pediatric pulmonology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.866
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1099-0496
pISSN - 8755-6863
DOI - 10.1002/ppul.1950100307
Subject(s) - medicine , crying , respiratory system , anesthesia , mechanical ventilation , airway , hypercapnia , ventilation (architecture) , respiratory failure , neuromuscular disease , respiratory disease , pediatrics , disease , lung , mechanical engineering , psychiatry , engineering
The purpose of this study was to assess the strength of the respiratory muscles in 12 infants with neuromuscular disease (age range: 0.17–2.08 years) by measuring the maximal inspiratory and expiratory airway pressures (P I max and P E max) during crying efforts. Infants were divided into two groups according to their respiratory history. Group A included six infants in stable condition without clinical evidence of respiratory abnormalities, and Group B included six infants with severe generalized muscle weakness and previous respiratory failure. The infants in Group B had been weaned from mechanical ventilation 6 to 14 days before being studied. For infants of Group A, P I max and P E max values were 77 ± 28 cmH 2 O and 62 ± 18 cmH 2 O, respectively; for infants of Group B, they were 38 ± 8 cmH 2 O and 34 ± 8 cmH 2 O, respectively. A positive correlation was found between P E max and body mass percentile. No infant had hypercapnia at the time of the study, and Pa O 2values in infants of Group B were significantly lower than those of Group A. These results suggest that measurements of airway pressures during crying may provide an index of respiratory muscle strength in infants with generalized muscle weakness. Pediatr Pulmonol 1991; 10:172–177.