Thirty years of Acta Myologica

The present issue opens the thirtieth volume of Acta Myologica, and, just as people celebrate the appearance of a new century a year ahead of time, we will not wait until the end of the third decade of this journal's appearance , but will hail the first issue, that comes with an XXX printed on its cover, with a short account of the journal's history. Almost 30 years ago, two experts in neuromuscular disorders from the Faculty of Medicine of the Neapolitan University Federico II, Prof Giovanni Nigro, then head of the Servizio di Cardiomiologia e Miologia, and his proxy since 1963, Prof Lucia Ines Comi, decided to launch a new journal that was especially devoted to their field of professional interest. In June 1982, the first issue appeared under the name of Cardiomyology, with Nigro acting as editor-in-chief, and his scientific alter ego Comi seconding him as managing coordinator. An editorial staff of nine Neapolitan specialists assisted the two founders, and they in turn were aided by an editorial board of 20 experts, with Italian cardiologists prevailing. These were complemented by a few international experts in myology, such as Victor Dubowitz (a paediatrician), Alan Emery (a geneticist), as well as Georges Serratrice and Sir John Walton (two neurologists), in order to broaden the scope of the journal. The interest in myology and cardiomyology had indeed substantially increased during the 1960s all over the medical scientific world, and this development had also stimulated Nigro's own work group. They actively participated in the 1 st International Congress on Neuromus-cular Diseases held in Milan in 1968, and eight years later they established a " University Center for Muscular Dys-trophies " financially supported by the Neapolitan branch of the Italian Muscular Dystrophy Association (UILDM). The latter had of course also been initiated by Giovanni Nigro. The next big step forward was in May 1982, the organisation of a successful " International Meeting on X-linked Muscular Dystrophy " at Naples' famous Castel dell'Ovo. This meeting " stressed interesting correlations between cardiological findings and aspects of skeletal muscle physiopathology " as Nigro pointed out in his first editorial of Cardiomyology, and the successful specification of this correlation has certainly been a constant factor in the scientific programme of Nigro's team and its public platform. Research into myology and cardiomyology flourished , as did the journal, so that in 1990 Nigro and Comi felt that the …