Human immunodeficiency virus wasting syndrome may represent a treatable myopathy

We evaluated 5 patients with the diagnosis of HIV wasting syndrome. None had severe diarrhea or other causes for malabsorption. All had myopathy by clinical, laboratory, and muscle biopsy criteria. Withdrawal of azidothymidine in 3 patients did not lead to improvement. Corticosteroid therapy was effective in 3 patients.