Abstract
Two-hundred eighty-three boys with Duchenne dystrophy and 10 with Becker dystrophy have been followed for up to 10 years in a protocol that accurately measured their function, strength, contractures, and back curvature. Clinical heterogeneity is noted. Patients whose muscles were stronger were more likely to die from a cardiomyopathy. Weaker patients died from respiratory failure. A series of milestones is defined, which is of use in following the illness in an individual patient. This approach permits a scoring system that allows the severity of the disease to be defined in an individual boy. Evaluation of physical therapy and surgical intervention shows that night splints and scoliosis surgery are effective forms of treatment.
- © 1989 by AAN Enterprises, Inc.
Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
If you are uploading a letter concerning an article:
You must have updated your disclosures within six months: http://submit.neurology.org
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.