Quadriplegic areflexic ICU illness: Selective thick filament loss and normal nerve histology

• Published in: Muscle & nerve Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 499 - 505
• Main Authors: Sander, Howard W., Golden, Marianna, Danon, Moris J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.10.2002; Wiley
• Subjects: acute quadriplegic myopathy; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Critical Care; Critical Illness; Electrodiagnosis; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Microscopy, Electron; Middle Aged; Muscle, Skeletal - innervation; Muscle, Skeletal - pathology; Muscle, Skeletal - ultrastructure; myopathy; Myosins - metabolism; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Nervous system as a whole; Neurology; Neurons - pathology; neuropathy; Peripheral Nerves - pathology; Peripheral Nerves - ultrastructure; Plastic Embedding; Quadriplegia - pathology; Reflex - physiology; Sural Nerve - pathology; Sural Nerve - ultrastructure; thick filament loss; Human; Tetraplegia; Nervous system diseases; Filament; Pathophysiology; Motor system disorder; Electron microscopy; Abnormal reflex; Intensive care unit; Case study; Pathology; Electrodiagnosis; Optical microscopy; Tendinous areflexia; Neurological disorder

Areflexic quadriplegia that occurs in the intensive care unit (ICU) is commonly ascribed to critical illness polyneuropathy based upon electrophysiology or muscle light microscopy. However, electron microscopy often documents a selective thick filament loss myopathy. Eight ICU patients who developed...