A Review of MD STAR net's Research Contributions to Pediatric-Onset Dystrophinopathy in the United States; 2002-2017

Abstract

Population studies of rare disorders, such as Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies (dystrophinopathies), are challenging due to diagnostic delay and heterogeneity in disorder milestones. To address these challenges, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance, Tracking, and Research Network (MD STAR net) in 2002 in the United States. From 2002 to 2012, MD STAR net longitudinally tracked the prevalence, clinical, and health care outcomes of 1054 individuals born from 1982 to 2011 with pediatric-onset dystrophinopathy through medical record abstraction and survey data collection. This article summarizes 31 MD STAR net peer-reviewed publications. MD STAR net provided the first population-based prevalence estimates of childhood-onset dystrophinopathy in the United States. Additional publications provided insights into diagnostic delay, dystrophinopathy-specific growth charts, and health services use. Ongoing population-based surveillance continually improves our understanding of clinical and diagnostic outcomes of rare disorders.

Keywords: dystrophinopathy; muscular dystrophy; population-based; public health surveillance; rare disorders.

Figure 1.

Case^a definitions of childhood-onset dystrophinopathy in population-based surveillance systems—definite, probable, possible, asymptomatic, and manifesting female, United States, 2002–2011. ^a Cases were found through searches for ICD-9 code 359.1 in medical records and ICD-10 code G71.0 in death records.

Figure 2.

Growth curves comparison for steroid-treated boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) as compared to CDC US Standard growth curves, adapted from Lamb et al (2016).