Doppler imaging provides better understanding of muscular dystrophy

A new study presented this week at the American Society of Echocardiography's 16th Annual Scientific Sessions offers new hope to children stricken with Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD), a degenerative muscular disease characterized by a loss of voluntary muscle control which can eventually affect the heart.

Using tissue Doppler imaging, a form of heart ultrasound or echocardiography, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have taken a significant step toward identifying early changes in the heart muscle before heart failure, an irreversible process that develops in many children with DMD. Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle can no longer pump enough blood to sustain the rest of the body. The disorder develops in DMD patients as their condition becomes more severe. It generally becomes present as patients enter their late teenage years.

"Many children suffering from Duchene muscular dystrophy will develop heart failure in the late stage that is very difficult to treat," says Dr. Shuping Ge, lead author of the study. "We wanted to find a way to detect early minor changes of the heart muscle in hopes of guiding early therapy that can slow down or reverse those changes."

Using tissue Doppler imaging, doctors took a close look at the motion of the heart muscle. This method revealed subtle differences in the way the heart beats in patients suffering from DMD, but who had not yet developed heart failure. Specifically, doctors found that even in hearts that were still pumping correctly, the velocity at which the walls of the heart were moving was often abnormal in patients with DMD. Researchers hope that by identifying this abnormal motion as early as possible, they can initiate a course of therapy that can delay the pump dysfunction as long as possible.

"Tissue Doppler imagining is a tool that allows us to monitor the small, but vital changes that we're looking for in these kids," says Ge.

The Baylor College of Medicine study can also be found in the May edition of The Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography.

The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Scientific Sessions serve as a showcase for new advances and research in cardiovascular medicine. The four-day program includes invited lecturers, symposia and manufacturers' exhibits. Featured speakers include national and international leaders and teachers in the field of echocardiography and cardiology.

Based in Raleigh, N.C., the American Society of Echocardiography is a professional organization of physicians, cardiac sonographers, nurses and scientists involved in echocardiography, the use of ultrasound to image the heart and cardiovascular system. The organization was founded in 1975 and has 10,000 members nationally and internationally.