Clinical characteristics and predictive biomarkers of intensive care unit-acquired weakness in patients with cardiogenic shock requiring mechanical circulatory support

Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) is recognized as newly-acquired bilateral muscle weakness, which is a complication of critical illness in the ICU; however, there are no reports on the pathogenesis and early predictors of ICU-AW specifically associated with cardiogenic shock (CS). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of ICU-AW in patients with CS requiring mechanical circulatory support (MCS). This study was a single-center, prospective, and observational study. Patients aged 16 years and older who underwent MCS for CS were included. ICU-AW was diagnosed based on Medical Research Council (MRC) score after awakening. The ICU-AW group included patients with the MRC score < 48 points, and the non-ICU-AW group included those with ≥ 48 points. Twenty-eight cases were enrolled on admission and MRC score was evaluated in 23 cases after awakening. Eleven patients were included in the non-ICU-AW group and 12 patients (52%) were in the ICU-AW group. The ICU-AW group showed a higher prevalence of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and ventilator use. Creatine kinase, troponin T, interleukin (IL)-15 levels on admission were significantly higher, whereas hemoglobin and albumin levels were significantly lower in the ICU-AW group. A strong negative correlation was observed between the initial MRC scores and IL-15 levels. ICU-AW occurred 52% of patients with CS using MCS, indicating the significance of recognizing and managing this complication for those patients. In addition, IL-15 can be a potential biomarker for the early prediction of ICU-AW.