Work

Corticosteroid Treatments in Males With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: This population-based study examines the association between corticosteroid treatment and time to loss of ambulation, stratifying by treatment duration (short: 0.25-3 years, long: >3 years), among 477 Duchenne muscular dystrophy cases identified by the Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance Tracking and Research Network (MDSTARnet). Those cases who received short-term corticosteroid treatment had a time to loss of ambulation that was 0.8 years shorter (t test) and an annual risk of losing ambulation 77% higher than the untreated (Cox regression). Conversely, cases who received long-term corticosteroid treatment had a time to loss of ambulation that was 2 years longer and an annual risk of losing ambulation 82% lower than the untreated, up to age 11 years; after which the risks were not statistically different. The relationship of corticosteroids and time to loss of ambulation is more complex than depicted by previous studies limited to treatment responders or subjects who lost ambulation during study follow-up.

Source: Journal of Child Neurology

DOI: 10.1177/0883073814558120

Authors: Sunkyung Kim, Kimberly A. Campbell, Deborah J. Fox, Dennis J. Matthews, Rodolfo Valdez, the MD STARnet

Institutions: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, New York State Department of Health, Children's Hospital Colorado

Language: English

Topic: Muscle Physiology and Disorders

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention