title: Avascular necroses inducing limb-girdle syndrome.
abstract: Disuse myopathy can be caused by many disorders. However, disuse myopathy with symmetrical weakness of the proximal muscles in the four limbs is rare. Here we report a 45-year-old man who presented with the appearance of myopathy similar to the clinical picture of limb-girdle syndrome with symmetrical weakness of proximal muscles in four limbs. A battery of intensive investigations confirmed that the patient had symmetric disuse myopathy induced by multiple avascular necroses of hip and shoulder joints. After the patient had received bilateral total hip replacement operations he had remarkable improvement in his muscle power in both lower limbs. This report highlights that some myopathies can be reversed if their underlying causes are correctable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 199 Tung Hwa North Road, Taipei 10591, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shiao-Lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Lok-Ming
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Sien-Tsong
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Long-Sun
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Ro
mesh_terms: D006621:Hip Joint / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049288:Muscular Dystrophies, Limb-Girdle / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D010020:Osteonecrosis / Q000150:complications*; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000473:pathology*