title: [Loss of balance, gait disturbance and falls in an elderly woman].
abstract: We report the diagnostic workup of a 75-year old woman seen in the outpatient clinic and complaining of a very common symptom that is walking difficulty and falls. We stress the complexity of the clinical examination and of the pathophysiology of equilibrium and gait disorders. They are numerous aetiologies that are very often associated in elderly patients. The therapeutic approach is necessarily multidisciplinary, both medical and paramedical. In the particular case of the patient illustrated in this vignette, the diagnosis was myofibrillar myopathy, a rare and recently described muscle disease. This is the occasion to stress that for many rare disorders, it is the disease, but not the signs or symptoms, which is rare.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moonen
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lievens
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bianchi
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D020914:Myopathies, Structural, Congenital / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D004856:Postural Balance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires