title: Acute corticosteroid myopathy in intensive care patients.
abstract: Several recent studies have attributed the occurrence of acute myopathy in intensive care unit patients to the combination of corticosteroids and neuromuscular junction blocking agents (NMBAs) used for mechanical ventilation. We present 4 patients who developed acute myopathy after administration of high doses of glucocorticoids during sedation with propofol without any NMBAs. All patients had elevated creatine kinase levels. Electrophysiological studies indicated normal motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities but reduced motor nerve response amplitudes. Needle electromyography identified abnormal spontaneous activity; motor unit potentials were polyphasic of low amplitude and short duration, characteristic of a myopathic process. Muscle biopsy demonstrated a prominent acute necrotizing myopathy in all 4 patients with a loss of thick filaments. Our observations support glucocorticoids rather than NMBAs as the main offending drug in acute corticosteroid myopathy. The predisposing factor should be the hypersensitivity of paralyzed muscles to corticosteroids regardless of the drug inducing paralysis: NMBAs or propofol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine, Mont-Godinne University Hospital UCL, Yvoir, Belgium.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dive
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Brucher
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bisteau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dangoisse
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deltombe
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D003422:Critical Care; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000473:pathology; D009336:Necrosis; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D009431:Neural Conduction; D015742:Propofol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D008775:Methylprednisolone; D015742:Propofol