الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
W
ith the continuous improvement of the respiratory care of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, cardiac manifestations (heart failure and arrhythmias) become the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Early identification of cardiac muscle affection is crucial to start anti-failure drugs that reverse remodeling and improve prognosis. This study aimed to detect subtle cardiac changes in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients and carriers using electrocardiography and echocardiography.
This study included genetically diagnosed Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients (29 males) and carriers (25 females) and compared them to healthy gender-matched control groups. All study participants were subjected to clinical assessment, 12-lead electrocardiography, global longitudinal strain augmented echocardiography.
In the current study, Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients had higher heart rates, smaller left ventricular diameters, lower ejection fraction, and worse left ventricular global longitudinal strain in comparison to the control group. Global longitudinal strain was inversely correlated with the age of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients.
The number of exon mutations did not affect electrocardiography and echocardiographic findings. Exon mutations 45-47 and 51-54 were significantly associated with ejection fraction less than 60%. Duchenne muscular dystrophy carriers had smaller left ventricular wall diameters, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left atrial diameter, and worse left ventricular global longitudinal strain in comparison to the control group.