Acquired rod-body myopathy associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection

A 35 year old homosexual man showed clinical features of myopathy, with progressive muscular weakness of proximal muscles. EMG demonstrated a myopathic pattern; serum CPK was mildly elevated and CSF examination revealed antibodies to HIV and a blood-brain barrier damage. An open biopsy of the quadriceps femoris muscle showed myopathic changes with inflammatory features including a marked variation in fiber size, necrotic fibers and phagocytosis, a profusion of internal nuclei. Fiber type analysis with myosin ATPase reaction revealed that myopathic changes involved both fiber types. Changes in the oxidative enzyme activities were also observed in the degenerating muscle fibers. Electron microscopy showed patterns of myofibrillar degeneration and characteristic rod bodies in 30% of fibers. The close resemblance of the present morphological results with those recently observed in some HIV antibody positive men seems to indicate the existence of a specific structural myopathy associated with AIDS.