Inability of a muscle to relax after the need for contraction has passed.
It is a feature of myotonic dystrophy, a form of muscular dystrophy.
A condition in which the muscles (see MUSCLE), though possessed of normal power, contract only very slowly. The sti?ness disappears as the muscles are used.
n. a disorder of the muscle fibres that results in abnormally prolonged contractions. The patient has difficulty in relaxing a movement (e.g. his grip) after any vigorous effort. It is a feature of a hereditary condition starting in infancy or early childhood (myotonia congenita) and of a form of muscular dystrophy (*dystrophia myotonica).
(myotonic dystrophy) a type of *muscular dystrophy in which the muscle weakness and wasting is accompanied by an unnatural prolongation of the muscular contraction after any voluntary effort (see myotonia). The muscles of the face, temples, and neck are especially wasted. Baldness, endocrine malfunction, and cataracts also occur. The disease can affect both sexes (it is inherited as an autosomal *dominant disorder). Genetic testing for mutations in the dystrophia myotonica protein kinase gene is possible.... dystrophia myotonica
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