Minimal change myopathy: report of a case

A young boy, aged 5 years 7 months, presented with generalized hypotonia and proximal muscle weakness, and had exhibited delayed motor milestones since birth, He showed talipes planovalgus, a myopathic face, nasal tone vocalization, positive Gowers' sign and decreased tendon reflexes, but there was no intellectual impairment or seizure. The serum creatine kinase level and peripheral nerve conduction velocity, as well as the electromyogram and electrocardiogram, were within normal limits. A biopsy specimen from the left biceps brachii muscle revealed minimal nonspecific changes and mild variations in fiber size with an increased number of undifferentiated type 2C fibers, but no subcellular abnormalities were found on either the histochemical or electron microscopic examinations. The patient was diagnosed as having minimal change myopathy and improved clinically in muscle strength after one year of follow-up.