The purpose of this study was to determine, in exercising patients, how much diaphragm force increases before electromyographical evidence of diaphragm fatigue occurs. The study was performed in ten male patients with complete cervical cord injury (CCI) at the C5 to C8 levels, and five male patients with prior poliomyelitis infection (PPI) requiring chronic treatment with intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) at night. We studied the time course of the diaphragmatic tension-time index (TTdi), the centre frequency (CFdi) of the diaphragm electromyogram (EMGdi) power spectrum, and the ventilatory parameters, during steady-state submaximal arm/leg exercise. During exercise, early signs of diaphragm fatigue were present in seven out of 10 CCI patients and in four out of five PPI patients, as indicated by a reduction in CFdi. The increase in TTdi achieved before reductions in CFdi occurred was twofold in both the CCI and PPI patients. All patients except for the PPI patients, who demonstrated a reduction in CFdi, showed an increase in minute ventilation (VE), achieved by increasing both their tidal volume (Vt) and the breathing frequency (fb). The PPI patients demonstrating reductions in CFdi during exercise also increased their VE however, this was achieved by increasing fb while Vt remained constant. Following the reductions in CFdi, the CCI patients further increased their TTdi throughout the exercise test, while the PPI patients reduced their TTdi values.
In conclusion: (1) During exercise, electromyographical evidence for diaphragmatic fatigue frequently occurred in the CCI and PPI patients studied; (2) Compared to the eightfold increase in TTdi seen in healthy subjects before reductions in CFdi occur, the TTdi values increased only two-fold before electromyographical evidence of diaphragm fatigue was present in these patients; (3) There is a clear discrepancy between the CCI and PPI patients who demonstrate electromyographical evidence of diaphragm fatigue, in terms of their ventilatory and TTdi responses.