Critical Illness Myopathy: Glucocorticoids revisited?

Over the past decades, survival rates of critical illness have constantly increased. As a consequence, the incidences of important complications of intensive care unit (ICU) treatment become more and more prevalent. Critical illness myopathy (CIM) belongs to one of the most frequent neuromuscular complications and its presence is associated with prolonged need for mechanical ventilation and ICU stay, increased morbidity and mortality 1,2. High-dose glucocorticoid (GC) treatment was early after the initial description of CIM postulated to be a major triggering factor for the development of the disease. In the current issue of Acta Physiologica, Akkad et al. investigate the effects of two GC drugs (prednisolone and a new dissociative GC termed vamorolone) on CIM development3. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.