Right ventricular diastolic dysfunction in asthmatic patients

Asthmatic patients develop right heart affection from early stages through different mechanisms. The current study was performed aiming to assess the right ventricular diastolic dysfunction in different asthmatic stages. The study population was fifty persons subdivided into 30 asthmatic adults and 20 healthy control subjects. Results showed that the prevalence of right ventricular dilatation was statistically higher among asthmatic adults [66%] than controls [0%]. Also, there was a significant elevation of the mean value of ESPAP among asthmatic adults [24 +/- 7.18] than the control group [17.8 +/- 4.98] [P < 0.05]. In addition the mean value of RVEDD was significantly higher among asthmatic adults [17.47 +/- 4.51 cm] compared to control subjects [14.54 +/- 3.15 cm] [P < 0.05]. Also, a more deleterious effect was found that severe asthmatic cases suffered more impairment in diastolic functions of the right ventricle than mild and moderate cases, which means that patients with bronchial asthma have right ventricular diastolic dysfunction and the degree of this dysfunction is related to the severity of the disease

Postural control via electrical stimulation and its effect on ventilatory functions in cerebral palsied children

Thirty subjects from both sexes participated in this study, their ages ranged from 5 to 11 years with mean 7 years. They were randomly classified into two groups [study group 20 patients and control group 10 patients]. Measuring pulmonary functions and chest expansion were done for both groups before and after application of treatment program. Both groups received program of treatment 5 times/week for 16 weeks. The program of treatment for the study group included 30 minutes electrical stimulation for the back muscles followed by neurodevelopmental technique [NDT], while control group received only NDT. The results of the study group revealed significant improvement in all pulmonary function parameters except the small air ways measurements showed insignificant increase post-treatment. Also, the chest expansion values showed highly significant improvement in all evaluated parameters