Paradoxical Motion on Sniff Test Predicts Greater Improvement Following Diaphragm Plication. The Annals of thoracic surgery Patel, D. C., Berry, M. F., Bhandari, P. n., Backhus, L. M., Raees, S. n., Trope, W. n., Nash, A. n., Lui, N. S., Liou, D. Z., Shrager, J. B. 2020

Abstract

Diaphragm plication (DP) improves pulmonary function and quality of life for those with diaphragm paralysis/dysfunction. It is unknown whether differing degrees of diaphragm dysfunction as measured by sniff testing impact results after plication.Patients who underwent minimally invasive DP from 2008-2019 were dichotomized based on sniff test results: paradoxical motion (PM) vs. no paradoxical motion (NPM) - the latter including normal/decreased/no motion. Preoperative and postoperative pulmonary function testing (PFT) after DP was compared between the two groups. The impact of diaphragm height index (DHI), a measure of diaphragm elevation, was also assessed.Twenty-six patients underwent preoperative sniff testing, DP, and postoperative PFTs. Including all patients, DP resulted in a 17.8 ± 5.5% (p<0.001) improvement in forced expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1), a 14.4 ± 5.3% (p<0.001) improvement in forced vital capacity (FVC), and a 4.7 ± 4.6% (p=0.539) improvement in diffusing capacity (DLCO). There were greater improvements in the PM group (n=16) vs. NPM group (n=10) for FEV1 (27.2 ± 6.0% vs. 3.9 ± 6.2%, p=0.017) and FVC (28.1 ± 5.3% vs. -0.5 ± 3.3%, p=0.001). There was no difference in ?DLCO between groups. There were no differences between patients with PM and NPM in postoperative course/complications. No value for DHI predicted improvement in PFTs following DP.Patients with PM on sniff test have dramatically greater objective improvements in pulmonary function following plication than those without PM. Most patients without PM do not demonstrate improvement in standard PFTs. Improvements in dyspnea require additional study.

View details for DOI 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2020.07.049

View details for PubMedID 33031777