Prolonged Ventilation In Muscular Dystrophy Increases Complications

New research from MetroHealth Medical Center in Ohio suggests that patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy experience a higher incidence of noncardiopulmonary complications when prolonged survival involved assisted ventilation. Researchers conducted a retrospective chart review of 27 patients with DMD who were 20-years-old or older. A patient was considered to have had prolonged survival due to assisted ventilation, if that patient lived for more than five years after vital capacity fell below 1 L. In all, 19 patients suffered from one or more complications. Eighteen of these patients showed a survival mean of 6.5 years after their vital capacity fell below 1 L. Twelve of these patients were ventilated 24 hours a day. Researchers concluded that the there is a high frequency of major noncardiopulmonary complications in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and ventilator-assisted prolonged survival, and those therapies for these complications impose additional risks.