There is an increasing focus on intensive care unit-acquired weakness, its underlying mechanisms and therapeutic options. In this article we offer a commentary on the paper by Bloch and colleagues entitled 'MiR-181a: a potential biomarker of acute muscle wasting following cardiac surgery'. There is a need for biomarkers for intensive care unit-acquired weakness, not only in clinical practice bu...

asterixis, firstly described in metabolic encephalopathies, may occur unilaterally in patients with various focal brain diseases. although hardly localizing, most reported cases have showed a contralateral thalamic pathology; but lesions in the medial frontal lobe, parietal lobe, brain stem, basal ganglia, insular lesions, may also cause unilateral asterixis. in this article, three cases of acu...

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) usually presents in a symmetrical ascending fashion of weakness. We present a 6-month-old male infant who presented to our emergency room with acute left-sided limb weakness and head lag 3 days after a febrile upper respiratory tract infection. A diagnosis of GBS was established by confirming high cerebrospinal fluid protein, motor nerve reduced amplitude, and prol...

Acute Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is characterized by an acute onset of limb weakness and areflexia. There are a few rare variants that have been described and one of them is the pharyngeal-cervical-brachial (PCB) variant (oropharynx, neck, and proximal upper limb muscles). However, in this patient, the only presentation was bulbar involvement with fast recovery within days. This is likely to...

BACKGROUND Numerous neck muscles are involved in neck movements, and so isolated neck weakness is extremely uncommon in cerebral infarction. CASE REPORT We report herein the case of a 65-year-old woman with hypertension and acute cortical infarction, presenting with ipsilateral head tilt and contralateral sensory changes in the neck and shoulder area, which has never been described before. ...

Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is characterized by recurrent episodes of muscle weakness and hypokalemia associated with thyroid hyperactivity. Reported predominantly among individuals of Asian descent, TPP is a rare manifestation of hyperthyroidism in western populations. We describe a typical case of TPP in a 33-year-old portuguese male, who presented with acute tetraparesis associated w...

This is the first report of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) related to Legionnella pneumophilia infection. A 13-year-old boy presented with acute dysphagia and dyspnea. He lived in a rural area and had a history of drinking potable deep-hole water. The patient was intubated because of increased respiratory distress. A positive direct fluoresein antigen test confirmed L. pneumophilia infection in ...

A 55 yr-old man presented with progressive muscle weakness and oliguria for 5 days. Laboratory findings suggested rhabdomyolysis complicated with acute renal failure. A diagnosis of polymyositis was based upon the proximal muscle weakness on both upper and lower limbs, elevated muscle enzyme levels, muscle biopsy findings and the needle electromyography findings. The muscle biopsy showed extens...

In the developed world, Guillain-Barré syndrome and myasthenia gravis account for the majority of cases of acute respiratory failure associated with neuromuscular disease. The 4 components that contribute to respiratory failure are upper-airway dysfunction, inspiratory-muscle weakness, expiratory-muscle weakness, and the pulmonary complications associated with these conditions. Careful observat...

A white Russian-Jewish housewife of 25 years was admitted to the private medical service on June 10, 1942. Her complaints were weakness and fever. At various times during her childhood it had been pointed out by physicians that a cardiac abnormality was present. The patient, however, was unaware of any cardio-respiratory symptoms even with moderate exertion. She married at the age of 22, and wa...