Overview
- Nemaline Myopathy (NM): A congenital myopathy characterized by rod-like inclusions (nemaline bodies) in skeletal muscle fibers.
- Inheritance:
- Autosomal dominant (AD), autosomal recessive (AR), or sporadic (new dominant mutations).
Clinical Forms
-
Typical Congenital NM
- Onset: Birth or first year of life.
- Features:
- Hypotonia, weakness, feeding difficulties.
- Delayed motor milestones, waddling gait, or speech abnormalities.
- Facial weakness is common.
- Weakness:
- Both distal and proximal muscles (genetic subtype clue).
- Respiratory muscle involvement (often subclinical hypoventilation).
- Cardiac involvement: Rare.
- Prognosis:
- Muscle weakness often static or slowly progressive.
- Most patients lead active lives.
-
Severe Congenital NM
- Onset: Birth.
- Features:
- Severe hypotonia, fetal akinesia, limited postnatal movement.
- Feeding difficulties (sucking and swallowing issues).
- Respiratory insufficiency and recurrent pneumonia.
- Prognosis:
- High mortality in first weeks/months due to respiratory failure.
- Rare survivors may achieve independent walking.
Diagnostic Features
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