Muscle Force Assessment in the Intensive Care Unit and in Primary Myopathies

Inclusion Criteria: * Any patient which fulfills the criteria for sepsis / septic shock according the definition of the American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine Consensus Conference * Patients who will be sedated, mechanically ventilated, and immobilized * Patients will be intubated the day of admission to ICU and started mechanically ventilated on a positive pressure ventilation modus * The severity of each patient¢s illness will be assessed using the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score with required entry scores of a minimum of 15-20 Points * Patients suffering from a primary myopathy, e.g., Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy or subclinic myopathy, e.g. Malignant Hyperthermia. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with neuropathies, consuming diseases in an advanced state (metastatic cancer) and severe infectious diseases (e.g. AIDS, Hepatitis), as well as patients with injured legs and/or patients requiring neuromuscular blocking drugs. * Patients under the age of 18 yr.