Disease states affecting the lower motor neuron (LMN), neuromuscular junction, or muscles can result in vague clinical signs of weakness and trembling that make these diseases difficult to distinguish from one another as well as from non-neuromuscular problems such as electrolyte disturbances, colic, or pain. Early recognition of neuromuscular disease is important in rapid diagnosis and early, ...

Feline neuromuscular diseases may be classifi ed according to their location as those involving peripheral nerves and/or nerve roots, those involving the neuromuscular junction, and those that involve muscle (1). Each of these neuromuscular diseases will produce lower motor neuron (LMN) disease, however signifi cant variations in clinical signs may occur. Peripheral nerve and muscle diseases re...

Congenital myopathies (CMs) are a heterogeneous group of early-onset muscle disorders with weakness, distinct histopathologic features, and normal to slightly elevated creatine kinase (CK). The age at onset and clinical severity can be variable, ranging from severely affected at birth to a milder later-onset disease. Cardiac involvement has been reported. CMs are generally considered nonprogres...

The promise of stem cells for therapy of a variety of disease conditions is one of the most heavily marketed commodities of modern biotechnology. Interest in this prospect has opened up and destabilized a large area of developmental biology, challenging some of its major tenets, and becoming a source of controversy. Much of the disagreement arises from apparently simple conflicts of findings, w...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small 21-24 nucleotide RNAs that are capable of regulating multiple signaling pathways across multiple tissues. MicroRNAs are dynamically regulated and change in expression levels during periods of early development, tissue regeneration, cancer, and various other disease states. Recently, microRNAs have been isolated from whole serum and muscle biopsies to identify unique...

In this review we present an overview of quality of life (QOL) and QOL measures in neuromuscular disorders. We discuss the characteristics of QOL measures used in neuromuscular research, highlighting differences between generic versus disease-specific and global versus health-related QOL instruments. The phenomenon of response shift is reviewed. Commonly used QOL instruments are reviewed for am...

A wide variety of neuromuscular diseases affect children, including central nervous system disorders such as cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury; motor neuron disorders such as spinal muscular atrophy; peripheral nerve disorders such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease; neuromuscular junction disorders such as congenital myasthenia gravis; and muscle fiber disorders such as Duchenne's muscular dys...

Neuromuscular ultrasound involves the use of high-resolution ultrasound to image the peripheral nervous system of patients with suspected neuromuscular diseases. It complements electrodiagnostic studies well by providing anatomic information regarding nerves, muscles, vessels, tendons, ligaments, bones, and other structures that cannot be obtained with nerve conduction studies and electromyogra...