Glycogen storage disease with normal acid maltase: skeletal and cardiac muscles

We report a 5-year-old boy with lysosomal glycogen storage disease and normal acid maltase activity. This patient, the fourth reported in the literature, was referred to our hospital for evaluation of elevated serum GOT, GPT, and CK activities. He had neither muscle weakness nor atrophy. Echocardiography demonstrated marked thickening of the intraventricular septum and left ventricular wall which indicated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Biopsied skeletal muscle disclosed massive accumulation of glycogen and autophagic vacuoles. Electron microscopy of biopsied cardiac muscle revealed severe myofibrillar disruption with marked accumulation of free and intralysosomal glycogen. Activities of all major glycolytic enzymes in skeletal muscle, including acid maltase, were normal. It is unknown why muscle lysosomes appeared to be unable to digest the trapped glycogen despite the presence of acid maltase. Our findings illustrate the importance of performing skeletal muscle investigation during childhood in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.