Distal Myopathies

A small proportion of myopathies begins or is largely confined to distal and semidistal muscles. The majority of these diseases begin in the legs; the dominant weakness can be of the tibialis anterior or gastrocnemius muscles. In this chapter, for ease of remembering, these have been divided into classics and the less common. Clinical differential diagnosis is of neuropathic conditions as the disease is distal. Around 30 genetic entities are now included in distal myopathies. Their clinical and investigative differences have been outlined.