Electrocardiographic characteristics of children with newly diagnosed Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

BACKGROUND

The electrocardiograms (ECGs) serve as a critical and routine screening tool of non-invasive imaging for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients. Our study aims to summarize and investigate the electrocardiographic characteristics of newly diagnosed DMD children.

METHODS

We conducted a single-center retrospective study to collect all DMD children diagnosed through genetic testing at Tianjin Children's Hospital from July 2018 to December 2023. 12‑lead ECGs were recorded and ECG parameters were manually measured. The comparative analyses were conducted to assess the differences in ECG parameters between DMD and normal children across various age and genotype subgroups.

RESULTS

A total of 44 children diagnosed with DMD were retrospectively enrolled, including 43 males (97.7 %). The average age at diagnosis was 36.78 ± 21.69 months old. Comparison of ECG between the DMD group and control group suggested that the abnormal ECG parameters such as deepened Q wave amplitude in leads V5-V6 (p < 0.01), increased R wave amplitude in chest leads (p < 0.01), a higher R/S wave amplitude ratio in lead V1 (p < 0.01), and an increased Sokolow-Lyon index (p = 0.02). The results revealed after the age of 7, additional ECG abnormalities became evident, reflecting a progression in the severity and number of abnormalities with increasing age.

CONCLUSIONS

The ECG abnormalities observed in this study could play a crucial role in supporting the early detection of DMD in resource-limited clinical settings.