Myatonia Congenita

Among the myopathies of childhood and infancy, myatonia congenita has an important place. This disease was described by Oppenheim1in 1900. Later contributions of note are those of Collier and Wilson,2Rothman,3Griffith and Spiller,4Grinker,5Greenfield and Stern6and others. The condition usually appears at birth. It is exceptional for it to appear in a postnatal form, although Collier and Wilson stressed the possibility of such types. According to the earlier investigators, the disease has no hereditary or familial tendencies. Some of the more recent contributions, however, have shown definitely that more than one ease. Particularly the postnatal type follows an acute infection, such in association with other myopathies in the same family (Greenfield and Stern, 1927). One group to be described by me is also interesting from the familial standpoint. Sorgente7described a familial type of the disease. Particularly the postnatal