ABSTRACT
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is important to the field of non-invasive ventilation for several notable reasons. Rideau,1 one of the pioneers of non-invasive ventilation (NIV), first explored nasal delivery in this group in the mid to late 1980s, and DMD has become the paradigm for a progressive neuromuscular condition in which management of the respiratory consequences has a marked effect of survival. This is quite different from NIV use in chest wall disease or post tuberculous lung disease where the precipitating cause is static although the pathophysiological decline has become a vicious circle. Furthermore, use of NIV in DMD has been a stepping stone to its application in older patients with acquired neuromuscular disease, e.g. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neurone disease and extension into younger paediatric groups with inherited neuromuscular and neurological conditions.
