1. A severe form of muscular dystrophy marked by generalized weakness and muscular wasting that affects the face and feet and hands and neck; difficult speech and difficulty with the hands that spreads to the arms and shoulders and legs and hips; the onset can be any time from birth to middle age and the progression is slow; inheritance is autosomal dominant
   "The patient showed typical signs of myotonic muscular dystrophy, including facial weakness and difficulty releasing his grip";
   - myotonic dystrophy, myotonia atrophica, Steinert's disease

Derived forms: myotonic muscular dystrophies

Type of: dystrophy, muscular dystrophy

Encyclopedia: Myotonic muscular dystrophy