[Etiology of the rigidity of axial muscles of the trunk in Moersh-Woltman syndrome].

A woman patient suffering from the rigid man syndrome (RMS) is described. Analyzing the clinical characteristics of the case, the anatomophysiological features of segmental innervation and suprasegmental control of the activity of axial muscles of the body, the authors suggest that the phenomenon of axial muscle rigidity is caused by the hyperreactivity of vestibular and reticular neurons stimulating via vestibulo- and reticulospinal fibers the motoneurons of the medial plates of the anterior cornua of the spinal cord (the segmental representation of axial muscles). The pathogenetic similarity of myotonic disorders in axial muscles in patients with the RMS and reflex manifestations of vertebral osteochondrosis is under discussion.