Sporadic inclusion body myositis presenting with severe camptocormia.

[inclusion body myositis]

Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM ) is a slowly progressive idiopathic inflammatory myopathy . The characteristic early quadriceps and finger flexor muscle weakness often leads to the diagnosis of sIBM , especially when all canonical pathological features of sIBM are not present on muscle biopsy . Weakness of the paraspinal muscles , resulting in head drop and /or camptocormia , is a rare clinical finding along the course of sIBM , and even more rare as the presenting feature . We describe two patients with sIBM manifesting with camptocormia as the sole clinical manifestation for several years prior to the diagnosis by muscle biopsy . This observation emphasizes the role of sIBM in the etiology of camptocormia and the need to consider this common myopathy as a cause of weakness , despite the lack of classic quadriceps and finger flexor muscle weakness years after the onset of the paraspinal muscle weakness .