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Manual Muscle Testing: A Method of Measuring Extremity Muscle Strength Applied to Critically Ill Patients
Published on: April 12, 2011
Glucocorticoid-induced myopathy in the intensive care unit
Heidi Shil Eddelien1, Henrik Westy Hoffmeyer2, Eva Løbner Lund3
1Department of Intensive Care Unit, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark.
Abstract:
Glucocorticoids (GC) are used for intensive care unit (ICU) patients on several indications. We present a patient who was admitted to the ICU due to severe respiratory failure caused by bronchospasm requiring mechanical ventilation and treated with methylprednisolone 240 mg/day in addition to antibiotics and bronchiolytics. When the sedation was lifted on day 10, the patient was awake but quadriplegic. Blood samples revealed elevated muscle enzymes, electromyography showed myopathy, and a muscle biopsy was performed. Glucocorticoid-induced myopathy was suspected, GC treatment was tapered, and muscle strength gradually returned. The patient made full recovery from the quadriplegia a few months later.
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