A STUDY OF CARDIAC MUSCLE INVOLVEMENT IN MUSCULAR DYSTROPHIES USING ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY AND ITS CORRELATION WITH SKELETAL MUSCLE INVOLVEMENT

DR MARCIA WARAN; DR ARUN TYAGI

Volume : VI, Issue : XII, December - 2016

A STUDY OF CARDIAC MUSCLE INVOLVEMENT IN MUSCULAR DYSTROPHIES USING ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY AND ITS CORRELATION WITH SKELETAL MUSCLE INVOLVEMENT

Dr Marcia Waran, Dr Arun Tyagi

Abstract :

Muscular dystrophies are hereditary, progressive, degenerative diseases of skeletal muscle that have been found to involve the myocardium. Cardiac involvement has been described mainly in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), Limb Girdle Dystrophy(LGD) and Facio–scapulo–humeral Dystrophy (FSH). This study was conducted to establish the extent of cardiac muscle involvement in muscular dystrophies using Echocardiography and to determine the correlation, if any, between skeletal muscle involvement and cardiac muscle involvement. Forty patients with a diagnosis of Muscular Dystrophy were selected for the study. The types of Muscular Dystrophy studied were DMD, LGD, FSH, Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy (BMD) and Myotonic Dystrophy (MD). The subjects were examined clinically and investigated in detail. Manual muscle testing, electrocardiogram, chest skiagram, serum muscle enzymes, electromyography and 2D Echocardiography were done. The ejection fraction (EF) and the fractional shortening (FS) of the left ventricle were found to be lower in the study group compared to the controls. 2D Echocardiography, being non–invasive, should be used to serially follow up these patients since the common cause of death is respiratory infections and cardiac failure. There was no linear correlation between cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle involvement.