QUADRICEPS MYOPATHY OCCURRING IN MIDDLE AGE

Abstract

Two case studies of myopathy limited to the quadriceps femoris are presented. One case represents slow deterioration over a period of 25 years and the other is a recent case with marked changes. Muscle biopsy findings in the first case included focal necrosis of muscle fibers with secondary phagocytic changes, and in the second case inflammatory cells were seen between the muscle fibers. Electro-myographic tracings in the first patient were characteristic of muscular dystrophy, but in the second patient early tracings were normal and later records gave a myopathic pattern with fibrillation which is not found in muscular dystrophy. On the basis of these findings it is suggested that these patients are suffering from chronic polymyositis rather than from progressive muscular dystrophy.