Abstract
Plasma concentrations of human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP) were measured in ten patients with progressive muscular dystrophy.
Eight patients were Duchenne type, one congenital type and one limb-girdle type.
Plasma hANP level in a 29-year-old man with limb-girdle type muscular dystrophy suffered from congestive heart failure was extremely high. And plasma hANP level in a 20-year-old man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy suffered from respiratory failure was also high.
But plasma hANP levels in the remaining eight were in normal range in spite of decreased vital capacity and abnormal Q waves on electrocardiograms.
