The use of extracorporeal life support in the treatment of influenza-associated myositis/rhabdomyolysis

Severe rhabdomyolysis with myocarditis in a 2-year-old child

Rhabdomyolysis in children is frequently a complication of a viral infection and typically has a benign course: calf pain and difficulty walking that usually resolve in a few days. Elevated levels of creatine kinase are an indicator of muscle injury. There are few reports of severe rhabdomyolysis in children without underlying metabolic or rheumatologic disease. We describe a case of acute rhabdomyolysis after a viral infection in a previously healthy child. The muscular involvement was so severe that the patient had a respiratory arrest on the second hospital day. The patient also developed cardiac involvement with mild myocardial dysfunction and myoglobinuria, without reduction of renal function.