Late onset and very mild course of Xp21 Becker type muscular dystrophy

We report a case of late onset of Becker's muscular dystrophy (BMD), diagno sed at the age of 60, which showed a very mild clinical course. Remarkably, the immunohistochemical pattern did not show significant alterations, whil e Western blotting disclosed low molecular weight dystrophin. DNA analysis showed a deletion of the exons 45 - 53 of the Xp21 gene, which is fairly ty pical of Becker's muscular dystrophy but not predictable of clinical course . The possibility of Xp21 muscular dystrophy must be considered in all myop athies of uncertain cause, also in elderly patients.