The management of cardiac complications in muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy

Many muscle disorders have significant involvement of the heart, and recognizing and treating this can be very important for patient care, even life-saving.

Sixteen participants from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom met to discuss the evidence for the way that we manage the cardiac involvement often found in different muscular dystrophies and myotonic dystrophy. The group included both myologists and cardiologists from nine different European centers.
The aims of the workshop were to agree and report recommendations for the investigation and treatment of cardiac complications.
During the workshop, there was review of the published literature in this area and an assessment of the current practice amongst the group.
Consensus statements for practice in Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, Emery Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy and congenital muscular dystrophy were produced, and will be published in a full report of the workshop in Neuromuscular Disorders (see below).
The conclusions will also be disseminated to cardiologists. It was recognized that there are some areas where we do not have good evidence on which to base practice, and there was discussion of the trials which are necessary to establish this, which the group will move forward with on a collaborative basis.

An extended report of this meeting is published in Neuromuscular Disorders, Volume 13, No. 2, February 2003.

Prof. K. Bushby (United Kingdom)