The purpose of this study was to establish the phrenic nerve conduction time (PNCT) for magnetic stimulation and further assess the relatively new technique of anterior unilateral magnetic stimulation (UMS) of the phrenic nerves in evaluating the diaphragm electromyogram (EMG).An oesophageal electrode was used to record the diaphragm compound muscle action potential (CMAP) elicited by supramaximal percutaneous electrical phrenic nerve stimulation (ES) and UMS from eight normal subjects. The oesophageal electrode used for recording the CMAP was positioned at the level of the hiatus and 3 cm below. The diaphragm CMAP was also recorded from chest wall surface electrodes in five subjects.All of the phrenic nerves could be maximally stimulated with UMS. A clear plateau of the amplitude of the CMAP was achieved for the right and left phrenic nerves. The mean amplitudes of the CMAP recorded from the oesophageal electrode were, for the right side, 0.740.29 mV (meanSD) for ES and 0.760.30 mV for UMS with maximal power output, and for the left side 0.880.33 mV for ES and 0.800.24 mV for UMS. PNCT measured by the oesophageal electrode with ES and UMS with maximal output were, for the right side, 7.00.8 ms and 6.90.8 ms, respectively, and for the left side 7.81.2 ms and 7.71.3 ms, respectively. However, the CMAP recorded from chest wall surface electrodes with UMS was unsuitable for the measurement of PNCT.The results suggest that unilateral magnetic stimulation of the phrenic nerves combined with an oesophageal electrode can be used to assess diaphragmatic electrical activity and measure the phrenic nerve conduction time. Eur Respir J 1999; 13: 385±390. Measuring the phrenic nerve conduction time (PNCT) and the diaphragm electromyogram (EMG) in response to phrenic nerve stimulation provides useful information for the assessment of diaphragm function and in the diagnosis of neuromuscular disease. PNCT measured with conventional electrical stimulation (ES) of phrenic nerves is a well-established technique [1±3]. However, this measurement is not widely used because ES can be technically difficult [4±6]. To overcome the problems of ES, cervical magnetic stimulation (CMS) [5,6] and unilateral magnetic stimulation (UMS) of the phrenic nerve [4] have been developed. These techniques are both painless and easy to apply. However, the latencies [6,7] and amplitudes [5] of the diaphragm compound muscle action potential (CMAP) measured with CMS are variable and different to those produced by ES. To evaluate the technique of UMS chest wall surface electrodes have previously been used to record the CMAP, and the PNCT was found to be shorter than that measured with ES [4]. The PNCT measured with an oesophageal electrode using UMS has not been reported, although it is considered that the diaphragm EMG recorded from an oesophageal electrode is more specific than when using surface electrodes [1]. The diaphragm EMG recorded from chest wall electrodes can be contaminated by extradiaphragmatic muscle activity [2]; therefore, the PNC...

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