Third party funded individual grant
Start date : 01.10.2009
End date : 30.04.2011
Many critically ill patients develop sepsis during their ICU stay. Critical illness myopathy (CIM) is an organ failure of muscle that prolongs the ICU stay and imposes severe budget threats nowadays. An early detection of muscle dysfunction in the septic ICU patient is needed to accordingly change patient management. Moreover, knowledge of specific pathophysiological mechanisms of CIM is sparse. In the present project, we will take advantage of a unique DFG clinical research project in which muscle biopsies and clinical patient data will be available at early and late stages of critical illness. As add-on to this clinical research group, we will explore mechanisms of muscle dysfunction from sequential stages of critical illness and directly relate cellular physiological findings to the clinical scenario. The overall goal will be to understand the mechanisms behind impaired contractile muscle function that might enable sensitive tests for early diagnosis of CIM based on our results.