Dystrophinopathies eMedicine Neurology

Description: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common muscular dystrophy affecting 1 in 3500 boys born worldwide. Although the name Duchenne is inextricably linked to the most common childhood muscular dystrophy, it was Gowers who recognized Sir Charles Bell for providing the first clinical description of Duchenne dystrophy in his 1830 publication, The Nervous System of the Human Body. Others, including Edward Meryon in 1852 and John Little in 1853, described families of boys with delayed motor milestones, calf enlargement, progressive inability to ambulate, heel cord contractures, and death at an early age.
Mellion & Tseng 2009