The Journal of pediatrics
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The Journal of pediatrics · Dec 1988
Abnormalities of diaphragmatic muscle in neonates with ventilated lungs.
Several infants and neonates who had received long-term ventilatory assistance had subnormal diaphragmatic muscle mass on gross necropsy examination. We conducted a retrospective study of our hospital infant necropsy files to determine whether prolonged ventilatory support was associated with diminution in myofiber cross-sectional area selectively affecting the diaphragm. We found that long-term ventilatory assistance may predispose diaphragmatic myofibers to disuse atrophy or to failure or normal growth. This phenomenon may contribute to difficulties in weaning infants from ventilatory support.