Myopathy and Motor Neuron Disorders
This chapter deals with the main varieties of muscular dystrophy and their differential diagnosis, including dystrophia myotonica, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Becker muscular dystrophy, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, limb girdle muscular dystrophy, Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy. Diagnostic clues are given for the main neuromuscular junction disorders, including myasthenia gravis and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. Inflammatory and dysthyroid myopathies are evaluated. Also appraised are periodic paralysis, McArdle’s syndrome, mitochondrial, distal, and medication-induced myopathy. The characteristic features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and its mimics are debated as well as various forms of bulbar palsy. Hereditary spastic paraplegia and its variants are also included in the chapter.