Tongue atrophy in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Involvement of the lingual muscle is considered one of the exclusion criteria of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). In a series of 151 Japanese patients with 4q35-FSHD, seven patients (4.6%) had tongue atrophy with abnormal MRI findings and typical myogenic patterns of electromyography. All seven patients belong to a group of early-onset FSHD with large gene deletions on chromosome 4q35. Our result suggests that the patients with 4q35-FSHD could have myopathic tongue atrophy.