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Quantitative electromyography is an important tool to evaluate myopathies, and some difficult-to-treat asthmatic patients may have a subclinical corticosteroid myopathic process, using only inhaled corticosteroid, according to some studies. In this report, diaphragm quantitative electromyography was used to evaluate asthmatic difficult-to-treat patients, comparing them with a control group. Significant differences were obtained in amplitude, duration and size index of motor unit action potentials, with lower parameters in the asthmatic patients, which may indicate a myopathic process.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to define normative data of phrenic nerve conduction parameters of a healthy population., Methods: Phrenic nerve conduction studies were performed in 27 healthy volunteers., Results: The normative limits for expiratory phrenic nerve compound muscle action potential were: amplitude (0.47 mv - 0.83 mv), latency (5.74 ms - 7.10 ms), area (6.20 ms/mv - 7.20 ms/mv) and duration (18.30 ms - 20.96 ms). Inspiratory normative limits were: amplitude (0.67 mv - 1.11 mv), latency (5.90 ms - 6.34 ms), area (5.62 ms/mv - 6.72 ms/mv) and duration (13.77 ms - 15.37 ms)., Conclusion: The best point of phrenic nerve stimulus in the neck varies among individuals between the medial and lateral border of the clavicular head of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and stimulation of both sites, then choosing the best phrenic nerve response, seems to be the appropriate procedure.

To establish reference values for the cervical length (CL) measurement by transvaginal ultrasound between 20 and 24+6 weeks of gestation in a large Brazilian population. A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed with 996 singleton pregnancies. The CL measurement (mm) using the transvaginal ultrasound was obtained in a sagittal view and the calipers positioned to measure the linear distance between the triangular area of echodensity at the external os and the internal os. The median±standard deviation and ranges for the CL measurement (mm) was 37.0±10.7 (range, 8 to 51). CL measurement did not modify significantly with gestational age. The observed percentiles for the CL measurement (mm) considering all number case were the following: 5th, 28 mm; 50th, 37 mm; and 95th, 45 mm. Reference values for the CL measurement by transvaginal ultrasound between 20 and 24+6 weeks of gestation in a large heterogeneous Brazilian population were established.