Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2017 Jun;17(3):245-247.
doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.17-3-245.

An unusual case of orthopnea

Emma Keelan  1 , Joseph Kidney  2 , Eoin P Judge  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

An unusual case of orthopnea

Emma Keelan et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2017 Jun.

Abstract

Bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis is a known cause of respiratory failure. Diagnosis can be difficult, particularly in the acute setting. We present the case of a gentleman diagnosed with bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis secondary to phrenic neuropathy in the setting of cervical spondylosis.

Keywords: Cervical spondylosis; diaphragmatic paralysis; phrenic neuropathy; ­orthopnea.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Supine chest radiograph
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Erect chest radiograph.
Fig 3.
Fig 3.
Magnetic resonance image of cervical spine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • An unusual case of orthopnea.
    Denham N. Denham N. Clin Med (Lond). 2017 Oct;17(5):479-480. doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.17-5-479a. Clin Med (Lond). 2017. PMID: 28974609 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
  • An unusual case of orthopnea.
    O'brien MD. O'brien MD. Clin Med (Lond). 2017 Oct;17(5):480. doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.17-5-480. Clin Med (Lond). 2017. PMID: 28974610 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

References

    1. Daniil ZD. Malagari K. Zakynthinos EG, et al. An unsual case of dyspnea in a 77 year old man. Chest. 2004;125:770–4. - PubMed
    1. Baum GL. Crapo JD. Celli BR. Karlinsky JB. Pulmonary diseases. 6th. Philadelphia, PA:: Lippincott-Raven; 1998. pp. 1185–8.
    1. John S. Tavee J. Bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis due to cervical ­chiropractic manipulation. Neurologist. 2015;19:65–7. - PubMed
    1. Rudrappa M. Kokatnur L. Dyspnea due to osteoarthritis. Diaphragmatic Palsy caused by cervical spondylosis. World Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research. 2016;2:214–6.
    1. Reddy YNV. Josephson RA. Osteoarthrosis causing altered mental status: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2014;8:401. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types