Table 1.

Neurological disorders affecting respiratory function

Location	Disease
Cerebral cortex	Stroke (aspiration)
	Neoplasm
	Seizures (aspiration)
Brain stem	Multiple sclerosis
Basal ganglia	Parkinson’s disease
Spinal cord	Multiple sclerosis
	Trauma
	Tetanus
	Neoplasm/cord compression
Anterior horn cell	Spinal muscular atrophy*
	Post-polio syndrome*
	Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis*
	Toxins (lithium)
Peripheral nerve	Guillain-Barré syndrome*
	Porphyria*
	Critical illness polyneuropathy*
Neuromuscular junction	Myasthenia gravis*
	Acid maltase deficiency*
	Toxins (botulism)*
	Drugs, eg, corticosteroids, anticholinesterase inhibitors
Myopathies	Congenital muscular dystrophy*
	Limb girdle muscular dystrophy*
	Myotonic dystrophies*
	Duchenne muscular dystrophy*
	Polymyositis*
	Critical illness myopathy*
	Hypokalemia*
	Rhabdomyolysis*

Note:

^*Neurological disorders likely to cause respiratory muscle weakness.