[Recessive distal myopathies. Five cases]

We present five patients with distal weakness in the lower extremities with onset in adolescence. Paresis tended to occur in the gastrocnemia in 3 patients and was accompanied by marked elevation of CPK (> 10 times higher than normal). Muscle biopsies showed signs of dystrophy. The clinical picture for these patients was consistent with the diagnosis of recessive distal myopathy (Miyoshi's form). The differential sign in the other 2 cases was greater involvement of the anteroexternal leg muscles and the presence of rimmed vacuoles similar to those characteristic of Nonaka's vacuolar distal myopathy.