This new edition of Evaluation and Treatment of Myopathies is written for the clinician who sees patients with muscle disease, or the patient with complaints pain or weakness of muscle. Like the original, this new edition is divided in to 3 primary sections: Approach to the Patient with Muscle Disease Specific Myopathies, and General Strategies of Clinical Management provides practical guidance on eliciting key history and on how to demonstrate findings on examination. This new edition also provides guidance on the next steps in diagnosisas well as the latest information on pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment, in an integrated manner, so as to give trainees, practicing clinicians and others who see neuromuscular disease, perspective on how to evaluate and care for patients. New and revised tables, figures and references are selected and organized to present information of clinical importance to provide the most up-to-date resource on the myopathies.

I am pleased to introduce this volume on Myoblast Transfer Therapy on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and all of its Advisory Committees. The international conference which led to this volume brought together leading basic scientists and clinical investigators for the purpose of coordinating the development of this new field in the fight against muscular dystrophy. The Muscular Dystrophy Association is the nation's most rapidly growing voluntary health agency in terms of its programs of patient care, research, and professional and public education. Success is attributable to its National Chairman, Jerry Lewis, to its effective corporate membership, and to the many physicians and scientists who give their time freely to advise on policies, to review grant applications, and to participate in meetings such as this. I should like to acknowledge a large number of other individuals to whom we are indebted: the broad segment of the American public which continually and generously supports our spectrum of services. The Muscular Dystrophy Association, next year, should raise in excess of $115,000,000. These contributions are derived from more than 10 million American families. These families are not only pledging their money but expressing their hopes that we will find answers to the tragic problem of neuromuscular disease. We are confident that the fruits of this meeting will move the frontier of research forward toward that goal.

This major new edition fulfils the need for a single-volume, up-to-date information resource on the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of skeletal muscles, including the muscular dystrophies, mitochondrial myopathies, metabolic myopathies, ion channel disorders, and dysimmune myopathies. As background to the clinical coverage, relevant information on advances in molecular and developmental biology, immunopathology, mitochondrial biology, ion-channel dynamics, cell membrane and signal transduction science, and imaging technology is summarized. Combining essential new knowledge with the fundamentals of history-taking and clinical examination, this extensively illustrated book will continue to be the mainstay for practising physicians and biomedical scientists concerned with muscle disease. Regular updates on the clinical and basic science aspects of muscle disease - written mainly by rising stars of myology - will be published on an accompanying website.