[2 cases of bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis]

Bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis is characterized by severe dyspnea in decubitus, with or without known respiratory or cardiac disorders. In both patients clinical diagnosis was confirmed by measuring the transdiaphragmatic pressure which was approximately zero. The first patient, previous to the clinical onset, had an episode of gastroenteritis and later developed a pneumonia; in the second patient, clinical manifestations started after neck surgery and both the clinical and functional disorders recovered within the following eight months.