title: Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy in two unrelated Japanese families.
abstract: The occurrence of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) in Orientals is uncertain. We identified two unrelated Japanese families, including 30 affected individuals (14 men, 16 women, mean age 58 years) of OPMD through four generations, with complete penetrance. Their major clinical manifestations were late-onset bilateral ptosis and dysphagia. Histologic studies of slightly affected muscles reveal mild myogenic changes, occasional rimmed vacuoles, and small angulated fibers. By contrast, the severely involved cricopharyngeal muscle showed marked loss of fibers and massive proliferation of connective tissue. Ultrastructural studies of four different biopsied muscles disclosed subsarcolemmal intranuclear tubulofilamentous inclusions, identical to those of non-Japanese OPMD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Uyama
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nohira
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chateau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okabe
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Tome
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles; D010375:Pedigree; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles; D012782:Shoulder; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics