2023 Volume 40 Issue 3 Pages 392-396
We retrospectively reviewed 60 patients with muscular dystrophy who tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) and visited our hospital from January 2020 to October 2022. The number of infected patients increased from 2 patients in 2020 to 55 in 2022. Since COVID–19 is largely considered a community–acquired infection, prevention is challenging. Worsening of COVID–19 was only observed in a steroid– and immunosuppressant–treated patient, and muscular dystrophy in itself was unlikely to be an aggravating factor of COVID–19. However, since aggressive respiratory physiotherapy is contraindicated in active COVID–19 patients to prevent aerosol diffusion, many patients showed difficulty in airway clearance and intercurrent bacterial pneumonia. In addition, cardiac function deteriorated in several patients even in cases where COVID–19 symptoms were mild. When treating patients with muscular dystrophy for COVID–19 infection, cardiac function should be carefully monitored.
