Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a 30-year population-based incidence study

Abstract

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is among the most common lethal genetic diseases. It has been proposed that genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis have begun to lower the incidence. We reviewed the records of all patients with confirmed DMD who were born between 1969 and 2008. Statistics Canada data on annual male births in Nova Scotia were obtained for each year.The overall incidence of 1 per 4700 male births remained stable during the 30-year period of the study. Similarly, the age at diagnosis did not change during that time.