Does Myosin Loss Predict Mortality in Critical Illness Myopathy?

In a small retrospective study, a higher degree of myosin loss was associated with increased mortality.

Critical illness myopathy (CIM), which causes flaccid quadriparesis and respiratory muscle weakness in seriously ill patients, is common in the intensive care unit (ICU) and is associated with increased mortality. Characteristic findings include prolonged compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitudes on electrodiagnostic testing and preferential loss of myosin in muscle fibers on biopsy. Researchers have now conducted a single-center retrospective study of 20 patients in the ICU who met electrodiagnostic criteria for CIM (median onset of weakness, 24 days) and underwent a muscle biopsy, to determine the effects of histologic and electrodiagnostic features on outcome.

The researchers observed selective loss of myosin, indicated by focal …

Reviewing Author

Leana Doherty, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsNeurohospitalist Society; InterACTN (Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology)

Leana Doherty, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsNeurohospitalist Society; InterACTN (Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology)

Does Myosin Loss Predict Mortality in Critical Illness Myopathy?

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Reviewing Author