myotonic muscular dystrophy

(noun) a severe form of muscular dystrophy marked by generalized weakness and muscular wasting that affects the face and feet and hands and neck; difficult speech and difficulty with the hands that spreads to the arms and shoulders and legs and hips; the onset can be any time from birth to middle age and the progression is slow; inheritance is autosomal dominant. Synonyms: myotonic muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy, myotonia atrophica, Steinert's disease.