[New advances in muscular dystrophy: an up-to-date diagnostic plan]

During the last few years new findings from molecular studies have much advanced the understanding of muscular dystrophies. A unifying concept has been put forward to explain many forms of such disorders. A complex of several proteins associated to dystrophin has been described which links the cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix. The components of this complex can be examined at molecular and protein levels. This allows a search for an exact diagnosis in many such patients. Relevant new facts are reviewed in the frame of a traditional approach to the diagnosis of muscular dystrophies.