ABSTRACT
Clinical descriptions of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) have occurred since the mid-1800s. The clinical picture is one of a slowly progressive muscle-wasting disease marked by symptoms that develop before five years of age. Early in its course, DMD affects the proximal hip and shoulder girdle muscles as well as the anterior neck and abdominal muscles (1-4). The progression of weakness is relentless and becomes more disabling in late childhood. Patients receiving only supportive care typically become limited to a wheelchair in late childhood or early teens, and usually die of complications of respiratory insufficiency and/or cardiomyopathy in their late teens or early twenties (3-5).
