American clinicians have been trying to find out if long-term corticosteroid therapy in DMD could be of any use in the non-ambulatory stage of the disease. Using data from 398 patients with DMD recruited through the MD STARnet network, they observed that:
- deterioration in left ventricular function was unaffected;
- respiratory function seemed to improve, with the reduction in forced vital capacity occurring later, for corticosteroid therapy lasting more than one year.
This study could lead clinicians to review their practices.
