Skeletal disproportion in glucocorticoid-treated boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

• Published in: European journal of pediatrics 2019-05, Vol.178 (5), p.633-640
• Main Authors: Kao, Kung-Ting, Joseph, Shuko, Capaldi, Nadia, Brown, Sarah, Di Marco, Marina, Dunne, Jennifer, Horrocks, Iain, Shepherd, Sheila, Ahmed, Syed Faisal, Wong, Sze Choong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon; Adolescent; Body Size; Bone and Bones - anatomy & histology; Bones; Case-Control Studies; Child; Chronic illnesses; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; Duchenne's muscular dystrophy; Femur; Glucocorticoids; Glucocorticoids - therapeutic use; Growth Disorders - diagnosis; Growth Disorders - etiology; Humans; Leg; Linear Models; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Muscular dystrophy; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne - drug therapy; Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne - physiopathology; Original; Original Article; Pediatrics; Prospective Studies; Puberty; Tibia
• ISSN: 0340-6199; 1432-1076
• DOI: 10.1007/s00431-019-03336-5

We aimed to compare body segment and bone lengths in glucocorticoid-treated boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) with healthy controls using dual-energy absorptiometry (DXA) images. Total height (Ht), sitting height (SH), leg length (LL) and bone lengths (femur, tibia) in boys with DMD and age-matched control boys were measured using DXA . Thirty boys with DMD (median age 10.0 years (6.1, 16.8)) were compared with 30 controls. SH in DMD was 3.3 cm lower (95% CI − 6.1, − 0.66; p  = 0.016). LL in DMD was 7.3 cm lower (95% CI − 11.2, − 3.4; p