title: Bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis after kidney surgery.
abstract: A 57-year-old woman underwent an enucleoresection of her right kidney angiomyolipoma. Two weeks later she was admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea at rest with orthopnea. The chest x-ray showed the elevation of both hemidiaphragms and the measurement of the sniff transdiaphragmatic pressure confirmed the diagnosis of bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis. A diaphragm paralysis can be ascribed to several causes, i.e. trauma, compressive events, inflammations, neuropathies, or it can be idiopathic. In this case, it was very likely that the patient suffered from post-surgery neuralgic amyotrophy. To our knowledge, there are only a few reported cases of neuralgic amyotrophy, also known as Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, which affects only the phrenic nerve as a consequence of a surgery in an anatomically distant site.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pulmonary Disease, University of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare 12, 70100 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sozzo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carratù
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Damiani
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Falcone
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dragonieri
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Resta
mesh_terms: D018207:Angiomyolipoma / Q000601:surgery; D020968:Brachial Plexus Neuritis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000294:innervation*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010791:Phrenic Nerve / Q000293:injuries*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012133:Respiratory Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*