Vacuolar Myopathy

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Abstract
O CCASIONAL vacuolated muscle fibers may occur in any myopathy. Widespread vacuolation of muscle fibers occurs in familial periodic paralysis but only rarely has it been reported in other myopathies. Unverricht12 described such a myopathy in 1891 and noted the absence of muscle-fiber regeneration. More recently, the absence of other structural changes in muscle fibers and the lack of focal inflammatory cell infiltrations have been noted in vacuolar myopathies by Pearson8 and Denny-Brown.3 Such myopathies have been reported in association with systemic lupus erythematosus,8 rheumatoid arthritis, and carcinoma and following adrenosteroid therapy,1 or prolonged chloroquine phosphate therapy.15 This report is the summary of the clinical features of a case of vacuolar myopathy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus and prolonged chloroquine therapy. Light- and electron-microscopic appearances of the myopathy have been studied from biopsy specimens before and after discontinuation of the chloroquine and institution of