Dyspnea

The most common causes of dyspnea are not neuromuscular, but rather cardiac and pulmonary. However, dyspnea is an important and serious manifestation of many neuromuscular disorders, and it may compound an underlying pulmonary or cardiac problem. The diaphragm is a skeletal muscle under the control of a peripheral nerve and may be targeted by inflammatory neuropathies such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), and brachial plexitis or myopathies such as acid maltase deficiency, muscular dystrophy (MD), and neuromuscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis (MG). Periodic measurement of pulmonary function is a recommended measure in neuromuscular clinics.

Reevaluating Muscle Biopsies in the Diagnosis of Pompe Disease: A Corroborative Report

Background: Previous reports suggest that although a diagnostic muscle biopsy can confirm the presence of Pompe disease, the absence of a definitive biopsy result does not rule out the diagnosis. Methods: In this study, we reviewed patients with a limb-girdle syndrome who demonstrated nonspecific abnormalities of muscle, without evidence of the classical changes of acid maltase deficiency. These patients were rescreened for Pompe disease using dried blood spot (DBS) testing. Results: Twenty-seven patients provided blood samples for the DBS test. Four patients underwent subsequent genetic testing. Genetic analysis demonstrated that one patient tested positive for Pompe disease and one patient had one copy of a pathogenic variant. Conclusions: In conclusion, the ability of a diagnostic muscle biopsy to definitively rule out the presence of Pompe disease is limited. There is a role for a screening DBS in all patients presenting with a limb-girdle syndrome without a clear diagnosis.