A Man With a Bent Spine
A 65-year-old man developed a sudden onset of nonradiating, severe back pain, and he had to lie down on the floor for several hours. The next day he felt weak…
A Patient With Rapidly Progressive Muscle Weakness and Rather Elevated Creatine Kinase
A 44-year-old man presented with a progressive proximal weakness for 2 months and an elevated serum creatine kinase (CK) of 17,209 U/L (normal, <22–269 U/L). Physical examination revealed symmetrical Medical…
An HIV-Infected Man With Muscle Weakness and Spasms
A 41-year-old man was referred for complaints of muscle weakness, stiffness, and chronic back pain for 10 months. The patient stated that, when he stretched his legs, they would not…
An Older Woman With Progressive Muscle Weakness
A 62-year-old woman presented with progressive muscle weakness for more than 6 years. She had been previously diagnosed with polymyositis; she was treated with corticosteroids without benefit and subsequently referred…
A Man With Muscle Pains
A 55-year-old man was referred for evaluation of muscle pains at rest, mainly in the thighs and calves and occasionally in the arms, and an elevated serum creatine kinase (CK)….
A Child With Muscle Weakness and a Skin Rash
A 5-year-old boy (son of the patient in Case 98A) presented with muscle stiffness, finger swelling, diffuse erythema, pain in the wrist joints, and difficulty climbing stairs which started 3…
A Woman With Progressive Proximal Muscle Weakness
A 36-year-old Black woman presented with progressive muscle weakness of 8 months; she had had increasing difficulty climbing stairs and rising from a chair and later raising her arms above…
A Woman With Muscle Weakness and a Skin Rash
A 30-year-old White woman presented with a 7-month history of muscle weakness, pain and stiffness, mild nocturnal fever, and leg swelling. She developed an erythematous rash on the face and…
A Uremic Man With Proximal Muscle Weakness
A 57-year-old right-handed White man with renal failure from glomerulonephritis had been on dialysis for 3 years and was evaluated for weakness and stiffness of his arms and legs which…
An Older Woman With Leg Weakness and Atrophic Muscle Fibers on Biopsy
A 72-year-old woman presented with a 1-year history of lower extremity weakness and pain with difficulty going upstairs. She denied numbness or tingling paresthesias. Previous workup by the referring neurologist…
