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Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Functional and Morphological Assessment of Diaphragm Innervation by Phrenic Motor Neurons
Published on: May 25, 2015
Phrenic nerve injury resulting from percutaneous ablation of lung malignancy
Raymond H Thornton1, Stephen B Solomon, Damian E Dupuy
1Section of Interventional Radiology and Image-Guided Therapies, Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., Ste. H118, New York, NY 10021, USA. thorntor@mskcc.org
Objective:
The objective of our study was to illustrate the potential for phrenic nerve injury during percutaneous lung ablation, to discuss the importance of this complication, and to review the expected location of the phrenic nerve on chest CT.
Conclusion:
Knowledge of the expected location of the phrenic nerve-a structure that is usually not visible on imaging but is important-is essential for avoiding injury to the nerve during pulmonary ablation.
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