A meta-analysis of the literature published up to January 2022 on epilepsy and Duchenne (DMD) and Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophies shows an overall prevalence of epileptic disorders of 5% (compared to 0.5% to 1.6% in children and adolescents in the general population).
– Studies focusing on BMD show a prevalence of seizure disorders of 7%, those on DMD of 5%.
– In 14 to 38% of cases, the epilepsy was partially or totally refractory.
– No study has been able to conclusively establish a genotype-epilepsy correlation.
– According to two studies, alterations in Dp140 in BMD and mutations between exons 31 and 62 of the DMD gene in DMD tend to be correlated with the presence of epilepsy.
– No association was found between abnormalities in Dp71 and epilepsy.
The authors point out the possibility of underestimation of epileptic disorders, especially absences, which are sometimes mislabelled as attention disorders. The bone quality of these children should be particularly monitored in view of the deleterious effects of anticonvulsants in addition to those of glucocorticoids.
