This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (23)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Neurology  • Neurology, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Ludwig Gutmann, MD; Laurie Gutmann, MD

Arch Neurol. 1999;56:527-528.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

Severe weakness with respiratory failure is a serious and common complication of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit setting. Recent studies have elucidated 2 entities characterized by severe weakness that occur as a result of these circumstances: critical illness neuropathy and critical illness myopathy. Both are the result of a serious illness, in contrast to weakness arising from a primary neurological disorder that results in admission to an intensive care unit (eg, myasthenic crisis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, or botulism).¹ Critical illness neuropathy and myopathy are difficult to distinguish from each other on purely clinical grounds, although certain clues may make one more likely. Nerve conduction studies, needle electromyography, and muscle biopsy are often necessary to make a firm diagnosis.

CRITICAL ILLNESS NEUROPATHY

As initially described by Bolton et al² in 1984, critical illness neuropathy is a sensorimotor polyneuropathy that is often a complication of sepsis . . . [Full Text of this Article]

CRITICAL ILLNESS MYOPATHY

CONCLUSIONS

From the Department of Neurology, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, Morgantown, WV.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Archives of Neurology Reader's Choice: Continuing Medical Education
Arch Neurol. 1999;56(5):634-636.
FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Origin of ICU acquired paresis determined by direct muscle stimulation
Lefaucheur et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2006;77:500-506.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Distinct time pattern of complement activation and cytotoxic T cell response in Guillain-Barre syndrome
Wanschitz et al.
Brain 2003;126:2034-2042.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Critical Illness Neuropathy
Nagaratnam et al.
Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2001;15:81-84.
ABSTRACT