Echocardiographic study of the Duchenne type of progressive muscular dystrophy.

Abstract
Whether any relationship exists between the echocardiographic indices of cardiac function and the severity of progressive muscular dystrophy of the Duchenne type (PMD) was studied. Patients (75) with PMD were used for analysis. Among the echocardiographic parameters measured in the study, the maximal diastolic endocardial velocity (DEVM) and ejection fraction (EF) revealed a gradual decreasing tendency with increasing severity of the disorder. DEVM and EF may represent useful indices in the assessment of cardiac function in PMD.