Acute rhabdomyolysis complicating status asthmaticus in children: case series and review.

Objectives: To describe a case series of 4 children who developed acute rhabdomyolysis as a complication of acute respiratory failure secondary to status asthmaticus.

Methods: A retrospective review of all children who were admitted to our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with status asthmaticus from November 1998 through July 2004 was performed and all children who developed acute rhabdomyolysis, defined as a 5-fold increase above the upper limit of normal in the serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) concentration (CPK > or = 1250 IU/L), were identified. Demographic and clinical data were abstracted from the medical record.