Differential Diagnoses

Alveolar hypoventilation caused by brainstem or higher cervical spinal injury
Anterior horn cell or neuromuscular junction disease to differentiate from phrenic nerve dysfunction
Cerebral hemorrhage or ischemia
Cervical fracture
Cervical spine fractures
Decreased pulmonary or abdominal compliance
Guillain-Barre Syndrome
Injury to phrenic nerve from trauma, neoplasm, or surgery
Myasthenia Gravis
Peripheral neuropathies
Pleural adhesions

Workup

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Media Gallery

Diaphragm Disorders (Diaphragmatic dysfunction). Radiograph of a man who fell 45 ft from scaffolding, through plate glass windows, and onto the ground. Intraoperatively, he had a completely avulsed diaphragm on the left side. The patient subsequently recovered after a 45-day hospital course of treatment.
Diaphragm Disorders (Diaphragmatic dysfunction). Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is shown in this coronal obstetric ultrasound (the patient's head is to the right of the image; the thorax is center, and the abdomen is left). The stomach (st) and heart (hrt) are both within the thorax. Courtesy of Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cdh0002.jpg), author Dr Laughlin Dawes.
Diaphragm Disorders (Diaphragmatic dysfunction). Sagittal computed tomography scan of the chest with intravenous contrast demonstrates a Morgagni hernia (red arrow) containing abdominal fat. Courtesy of Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Morgagni_Hernia.PNG), author Jason Robert Young, MD.

of 3

Author

Garrett L Rampon, MD Fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Kansas Health System

Garrett L Rampon, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Ravi P Nayak, MD, FCCP Professor of Internal Medicine, St Louis University School of Medicine; Interim Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine, James B and Ethel D Miller Endowed Chair in Internal Medicine, Director, Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program, Director, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Director, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, St Louis University Hospital

Ravi P Nayak, MD, FCCP is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society, Association of Physicians of India, Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors, Pulmonary Hypertension Association, Society of Critical Care Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Received salary from Medscape for employment. for: Medscape.

Chief Editor

Zab Mosenifar, MD, FACP, FCCP Geri and Richard Brawerman Chair in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Professor and Executive Vice Chairman, Department of Medicine, Medical Director, Women's Guild Lung Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine

Zab Mosenifar, MD, FACP, FCCP is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Federation for Medical Research, American Thoracic Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgements

The authors and editors of Medscape Reference gratefully acknowledge the contributions of previous authors Anne T Saladyga, MD, Jason M Johnson, DO, Sidney R Steinberg, MD, FACS, and Abhijit A Raval, MD,to the development and writing of this article.

Sections Diaphragm Disorders (Diaphragmatic Dysfunction)
Overview
Presentation
DDx
Workup
Treatment
Media Gallery
References

Diaphragm Disorders (Diaphragmatic Dysfunction) Differential Diagnoses

Differential Diagnoses

References

Tables

Contributor Information and Disclosures

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