Clinical and electrophysiological features in Chinese patients with Kennedy's disease.

ABSTRACT

Kennedy's disease is a X-linked neuromuscular disorder caused by an expanded trinucleotide repeat in the androgen receptor gene. To ascertain the clinical diagnosis of Kennedy's disease in a Chinese population, we used a rapid, accurate PCR-based sizing method for the CAG repeat allelotype. The clinical and electrophysiological features of affected patients are described. The CAG repeats ranged from 43 to 53 and were inversely correlated with the age of onset (r = -0.63; P < 0.005).