Case of Arrested Muscular Development. By P. K. Hunting-
ton, M. D., of Perry, Wyoming County, New York. (Commu-
nicated by Prof. J. K. Mitchel].)
Mr. Benedict, a young man, aged 22 years, of good habits, has
had, without any apparent cause, for the last eight years, no
developement whatever of the muscles of the thighs and pelvis,
and also of the arms, while those of the leg, fore-arm, foot and
hand, and also of the back, are fully developed. The gastrocne-
mii are very large indeed, resembling much those of an opera
dancer, while the muscles of the thigh, including the glutei, are
flaccid and shrunken, resembling those we find in the limbs of a
person in the last stages of phthisis. The contrast between the
arm and fore-arm is not quite so striking as that of the correspond-
ing parts of the lower extremities, yet it is very apparent to any
observer.
He complains of no pain or inconvenience whatever, and suffers
only from the weakness which necessarily attends such debility of
the muscles.
Whenever he rises from a sitting posture to a standing one, it
is done by the assistance of the upper extremities, and a sort of
springing motion. He cannot step up a common stair without a
very great effort, accompanied also with a sudden spring. To
raise himself from the stooping posture is impossible without ex-
trinsic mechanical aid.
There is no apparent difference in the sides of his body; both
seem affected alike.
He imagines that the muscles affected are less in size than they
were eight years ago, but whether this is really the case, or
whether it has been merely an arrest in the developement, while
the rest of the body has been developed naturally, is as yet a ques-
tion unanswered.
I have searched the works to which I have access to find an
analogous case, but in vain, for I can find nothing which even
approximates it.
I would advise him to visit your city, were I satisfied that any
medical aid would benefit him.
With this concise description, therefore, I wish to submit the
case to you, asking your opinion in regard to the propriety and
probable success of medication.