Shrinkage or wasting away of a muscle, leading to weakness.
Amyotrophy is usually due to poor nutrition, reduced use of the muscle (as when a limb is immobilized for a long period), or disruption of the blood or nerve supply to the muscle (as can occur in diabetes mellitus or poliomyelitis).
Loss of muscle bulk and strength caused by a disorder of the nerve that supplies the muscle. The loss is progressive and characterises chronic NEUROPATHY. Patients with DIABETES MELLITUS and MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE (MND) often suffer from amyotrophy as well as spasticity (see SPASTIC) of muscles.
n. a progressive loss of muscle bulk (wasting) associated with weakness of these muscles. It is caused by disease of the motor nerve that activates the affected muscle. Amyotrophy is a feature of any chronic *neuropathy and it may be found in some diabetic patients (see diabetic amyotrophy). A combination of amyotrophy and spasticity may be found in the different forms of *motor neuron disease.
an acute mononeuropathy of the femoral nerve, usually of microvascular origin, associated with chronic poor diabetic control. Symptoms are thigh pain and progressive weakness of knee extension. Examination reveals wasting of the quadriceps muscle group and loss of the knee jerk. It may affect both legs and recovery is usually slow. Treatment is with physiotherapy and improved control of the diabetes; the condition never seems to recur in the same leg. The main *differential diagnosis is of compression of the nerve roots in the spinal canal.... diabetic amyotrophy
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