• Gi Dong Lee, Ho Cheol Kim, Jung-Wan Yoo, Seung Jun Lee, Yu Ji Cho, Kyungsoo Bae, and Jong Deog Lee.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, Republic of Korea.; Gyeongsang Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea.
• J Crit Care. 2016 Jun 1; 33: 47-50.

PurposePatients who require mechanical ventilation (MV) may experience diaphragm atrophy, which may delay the discontinuation of MV. Here, we used computed tomographic (CT) scans to confirm this phenomenon.Method And MaterialsPatients who underwent two chest CT scans while on MV were retrospectively evaluated. Diaphragm thickness was measured using a three-dimensional CT image processing program.ResultsThirteen patients, including 8 men, who underwent 26 CT scans were assessed. The mean age was 67.8 ± 7.5 years. The interval between CT scans was 18.4 ± 14.9 days. The first CT scans revealed that the mean thicknesses of the left and right sides of the diaphragm were 3.8 ± 0.6 and 3.9 ± 0.8 mm, respectively (total: 7.7 ± 1.4 mm). These values were significantly reduced to 3.4 ± 0.6 and 3.5 ± 0.9 mm, respectively, (total: 6.9 ± 1.5 mm) after the second scan (P < .01). No significant change in body weight (57.3 ± 12.6 vs. 56.7 ± 11.6 kg) or body mass index (21.8 ± 5.1 vs. 21.6 ± 4.8 kg/m(2)) was observed.ConclusionComputed tomography confirmed that diaphragm thickness was reduced in critically ill patients who underwent MV.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

4 keywords...

hide…