A survey of manifesting carriers of Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy in Wales

Abstract

Manifesting carriers of Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy are uncommon but well described. Such patients are of particular importance with regard to the differential diagnosis from autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. All mothers of affected males known to the Genetic Register of Muscular Dystrophy Families in Wales were contacted, and 167 out of a possible 190 were examined. It was estimated from pedigree and creatine kinase analysis that 119 out of the 167 were carriers of the Duchenne/Becker gene. Three manifesting carriers were identified, giving the proportion affected as 3/119 = 2.5%. We estimate the prevalence of manifesting carriers to be 1 in 100,000 of the female population, a figure comparable to the prevalence of autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. During the period of the survey, several other women with similar clinical findings but without an appropriate family history were seen. We strongly suspect that some of these are also manifesting carriers of the Duchenne/Becker gene.