Unaltered respiratory-related evoked potentials after acute diaphragm dysfunction in humans

Respiratory muscles play an important role in the origin of respiratory sensations. Data dissecting the role of the diaphragm and other inspiratory muscles are scarce. This study aimed to determine the impact of diaphragm dysfunction following inspiratory resistive loading on respiratory-related evoked potentials considered as a neurophysiological substrate of certain types of respiratory sensations. Altogether, nine subjects aged 25-50 yrs (six females) participated in the study. Transdiaphragmatic pressure output of cervical magnetic stimulation (with subdivision in oesophageal and gastric component), and respiratory-related evoked potentials (C3 and C4 derivations in the international 10-20 system) following mid-inspiratory occlusions were studied before and after an inspiratory-resistive loading challenge. Predominant diaphragm dysfunction was observed in seven subjects (average 28% reduction in transdiaphragmatic pressure, from 27.25-19.91 cmH2O, with increased oesophageal-to-gastric pressure ratio). The latencies and amplitudes of all the components of the respiratory-related evoked potentials were unchanged. The study concluded that predominant diaphragm fatigue does not affect respiratory-related evoked potentials.