Spinal muscular atrophy

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Superficial anterior muscles

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Spinal muscular atrophy

Alternative Names:

Werdnig-Hoffmann disease

Symptoms:

In an infant:

Floppy infant
Very weak infant
Little spontaneous movement
Lack of head control
Feeding difficulty
Breathing difficulty
Progressive weakness (older infant to toddler)

In a child:

Nasal speech
Worsening posture
Frequent, increasingly severe respiratory infections

Signs and tests:

A family history of neuromuscular disease
Absent deep tendon reflexes
Flaccid muscles
Muscle fasciculation
Fasciculation of tongue muscle
Elevated CPK levels

Tests:

Muscle biopsy
Electromyography
MRI of the spine
DNA testing to confirm diagnosis

Review Date: 8/1/2004
Reviewed By: Joseph V. Campellone, M.D., Division of Neurology, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, NJ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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