Unusual Manifestations Due to Involvement of Involuntary Muscle in Dystrophia Myotonica

Abstract

DYSTROPHIA myotonica (Steinert's disease) is an uncommon disorder usually characterized by symptoms referable to the voluntary muscles of the head, neck and extremities including difficulty with voluntary grasp release (myotonia). The diagnosis is readily made when other characteristic features of the syndrome are present, such as frontal baldness in men, cortical lenticular opacities, testicular atrophy, conspicuous atrophy of the sternocleidomastoids and muscles of the arms and legs and a characteristic facial expression. When these findings are not prominent, the diagnosis may readily be overlooked, particularly if the clinical picture is dominated by disturbances of involuntary rather than voluntary muscle.We . . .