Since 1945 we have personally examined 12 patients with a juvenile type of hereditary
muscular atrophy, all of whom had earlier been considered to have muscular dystrophy of
the limb-girdle type. The diagnosis was verified by electromyography (Kugelberg, 12 1949)
and muscle biopsy. This type of hereditary juvenile spinal muscular atrophy constitutes a
distinct disease entity but seems to be little known, since it is generally mistaken for
muscular dystrophy. Ford 8 (1952) and others have reported cases of juvenile spinal …