Camptocormia as a late presentation in a manifesting carrier of duchenne muscular dystrophy.

INTRODUCTION

Camptocormia, or bent spine syndrome, is an abnormal posture consisting of forward flexion of the spine that disappears when a patient is supine. It is associated with a wide variety of myopathic disorders that affect paraspinal muscles, including inflammatory and inherited myopathies.

METHODS

We describe a woman who presented with camptocormia in her eighth decade.

RESULTS

Skeletal muscle biopsy showed mild nonspecific changes, but her family history was significant for a son who died of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Genetic analysis of DMD confirmed that she was a heterozygous carrier of a mutation.

CONCLUSIONS

In the absence of any alternate explanation, we interpret her symptoms to be a manifestation of her DMD carrier state. To our knowledge, this represents the first reported example of camptocormia as the presenting symptom in a carrier and suggests that a manifesting carrier state should be considered in the differential diagnosis for women with unexplained camptocormia.