In 1868, Guillaume Duchenne (1806–1875), working in Paris, described a ‘‘pseudohypertrophic paralysis y which deceives and deludes by giving the limbs the appearance of great muscularity’’. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common childhood neuromuscular disorder, was the first muscular dystrophy described, is incurable at present and is invariably fatal. The disease involves a progressive degeneration of skeletal muscle without associated abnormality in the central or peripheral nervous system.