Neonatal myotubular myopathy with a probable X-linked inheritance: observations on a new family with a review of the literature.

During the 3 weeks of his life, an infant born at term presented pronounced hypotonia, areflexia and generalized paresis with severe respiratory and feeding problems. He was the fourth male in two generations to die in the perinatal period, therefore suggesting an X-linked inheritance. Post-mortem examination revealed a centronuclear or myotubular myopathy. The difficulty in distinguishing the signs due to muscle disorder from those due to hypoxaemic encephalopathy is stressed. Infants with centronuclear myopathy have in any case a high risk for hypoxaemic encephalopathy. The literature concerning neonatal centronuclear myopathy with X-linked inheritance is reviewed.