[Neuromuscular diseases and respiratory insufficiency in newborn infants]

Myopathological examinations which served to gain information on the potential impact of neuromuscular disease on the syndrome of perinatal respiratory failure included 47 consecutively deceased premature infants and neonates. A definite muscular disease could not be safety diagnosed in any case. However, only a very small number of investigations and data on the initial (possibly prenatal) manifestations have been available up to now. We found a total of 11 cases with increased intrafibrillary fat deposits coupled with mitochondrial aggregations in three cases. In seven cases, we found a retarded maturation ranging from three to nine weeks. Focally manifest myopathic changes were recorded in three cases. In one case, a large-group atrophy was found which might indicate the existence of a defect in the region of the second motor neuron. Biochemical backup investigations are necessary to be able to assess the relatively high incidence of increased fat deposits. We consider myopathological examinations of premature infants who died of respiratory failure to be desirable because far more comprehensive studies are necessary to be able to assess the importance of perinatally occurring muscular changes for the diagnosis of neuromuscular diseases.