myotonia atrophica
n : a severe form of muscular dystrophy marked by generalized
weakness and muscular wasting that affects the face and
feet and hands and neck; difficult speech and difficulty
with the hands that spreads to the arms and shoulders and
legs and hips; the onset can be any time from birth to
middle age and the progression is slow; inheritance is
autosomal dominant [syn: {myotonic muscular dystrophy}, {myotonic
dystrophy}, {Steinert's disease}]