Atrophy of diaphragm muscle visualized with ultrasound in mechanically ventilated patients

Mechanical ventilation (MV) induces diaphragmatic muscle atrophy and contractile fibre dysfunction, the so-called ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction (VIDD). Although diaphragmatic atrophy can be assessed using ultrasound, the biggest trial in humans published so far included seven patients and only measuring the thickness at two moments during the disease process [ 1 ]. We aimed to assess the time course of diaphragm atrophy in a larger cohort of MV patients using ultrasound.