Patient with myopathy in a general practitioner's office

Primary myogenic lesions, or myopathies, are a cause of reduction in muscle strength associated with muscle fiber damage. The motor nerve supplying the muscle is intact in this case. Its most commonly reported symptoms are weakness and fatigue and the general practitioner faces the task of differentiating non-specific weakness and fatigue from pathological conditions related to damage to myofibrils or structures at the neuromuscular junction. We offer practical advice on how to clinically identify myopathy, substantiate the diagnosis with findings of paraclinical methods and estimate the etiology of myopathy. The task of the neurologist is to complete the specialized part of the diagnostic process. There is more expertise and a general practitioner involved in treating and addressing the systemic risks of many myopathies. The purpose of the article is not to describe individual clinical entities. The work follows up on the article on peripheral nerve disorders, published in the previous issue of the journal. An article on neuromuscular disorders will be the subject of another issue of the journal.

Keywords: myopathy, myofibrils, myotoxicity, electromyography, creatin kinase, myoglobin.