A new X-linked syndrome with muscle atrophy, congenital contractures, and oculomotor apraxia.

Six men from three generations of one family had manifestations of a possible new syndrome. All had congenital contractures of the feet at birth, a slowly progressive predominantly distal muscle atrophy, dyspraxia of the eye, face, and tongue muscles, and mild mental retardation. The pedigree is compatible with X-linked recessive inheritance with no detectable manifestations in the obligate carriers. Linkage analysis excludes close linkage with the Xg locus and a polymorphic DNA sequence from the long arm of the X chromosome (DXS17).