[Status of connective tissue in progressive muscular dystrophies]

60 patients with different forms of neuromuscular disorders were examined. Morphological studies of skeletal muscles and of diurnal excretion with urine of acetic GAG were carried out. It was established that the changes in the stromal connective tissue in the progressive muscular dystrophia appear in the early stages of the disease and affect both the essential substance and the fibrillar structures. The excretion with the urine of acetic GAG was increased. In denervative amyotrophy the changes became apparent against the background of marked clinical symptoms. The data obtained may be important for a differential diagnosis of progressive muscular dystrophy and denervative amyotrophy, and for the development of differential drug therapy.