ABSTRACT
Duchenne muscular dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) affects 1 in 3500 male infants and is characterised by progressive loss of function due to muscle-fibre degeneration. Although the condition is variable, most boys lose the ability to walk at between 8 and 10 years of age. Progressive respiratory insufficiency begins early in the second decade of life. Scoliosis develops in 90% of boys who use a wheelchair full-time, and is likely to require surgery within two years.1 Scoliosis, respiratory failure and cardiomyopathy that develop during the teenage years can all be managed, and Bushby2 reports that survival into or beyond the late twenties is becoming more common.
