We report 5 cases (2 familial and 3 sporadic) who share a diagnosis of congenital
muscular dystrophy (CMD) in association with short stature, proximal contractures,
rigidity of the spine and distal joint laxity as well as early respiratory failure
and mild to moderate mental retardation. The expression of collagen VI was confirmed
to be normal on muscle biopsies of all 5 patients and in the informative family linkage
to any of the three COL6 A loci was excluded. These findings extend the phenotypes
within the CMD classification.
Congenital muscular dystrophy - short stature - menatl retardation - distal laxity