RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Ullrich disease: Collagen VI deficiency: EM suggests a new basis for muscular weakness JF Neurology JO Neurology FD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins SP 920 OP 923 DO 10.1212/WNL.59.6.920 VO 59 IS 6 A1 Ishikawa, H. A1 Sugie, K. A1 Murayama, K. A1 Ito, M. A1 Minami, N. A1 Nishino, I. A1 Nonaka, I. YR 2002 UL http://n.neurology.org/content/59/6/920.abstract AB Ullrich disease is a form of congenital muscular dystrophy characterized clinically by generalized muscle weakness, contractures of the proximal joints, and hyperflexibility of the distal joints from birth or early infancy. Recently, mutations of the collagen VI gene have been associated with Ullrich disease. The authors report on a boy with Ullrich disease who has complete deficiency of collagen VI and harbors compound heterozygous mutations in the collagen VI alpha 2 gene. Absence of microfibrils on EM, together with normal collagen fibrils and basal lamina, suggests that loss of a link between interstitium and basal lamina may be a new molecular pathomechanism of muscular dystrophy.