Submitted by Dr T on April 8, 2011 – 7:44am
Patients with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy are at a high risk for both arrhythmias and heart failure and should be followed (and treated) agressively.
The heart failure occurs as a “dilated cardiomyopathy”, causing “systolic dysfunction”:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/heart-failure
https://www.cardiachealth.org/ca-blog/heart-function-failure/ (look here for systolic dysfunction).
Treatment often includes angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)plus Alpha-receptor blockade is clear for cardiomyopathy patients without muscular dystrophy, and there is no reason to avoid this standard regimen in muscular dystrophy patients:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-disease-treatment/heart-disease-med
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-disease-treatment/heart-disease-med
Likewise, arrhythmias if present should be evaluated with monitoring and other testing such as a Holter monitor and possibly another EP study:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/palpitations
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/heart-arrhythmia
Lots of information for you, but I hope this helps,
Dr T