A very long work load followed in order to confirm, with definite precision, the fundamental modalities of early indication and of specific surveillance, for sufficient efficiency. Such an approach, conditioning always the transition, in a further stage, to a more appropriate tracheal way, but specifically adapted to be better tolerated (24). The impact of non-invasive nasal ventilation was such that the technique rapidly became part of everyday medical practice, far beyond the initial indication for muscular dystrophies (25). In

fact, this diffusion did not always lead to a benefit in this very disease, because the strict rules of these AC220 mouse special Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical features were often neglected, due to the predefined scientific protocols generally set up by some specialists in respiratory pathology (26, 27). In these conditions, the main indisputable criterion worldwide, able to answer Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to the real effectiveness of the proposed treatments, is that of comparing longevity, both in quantitative terms (age of patients) and qualitative terms (patient appreciation). Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Presentation of patients The primary approach to obtain clear and reliable results is that of considering the clinical experience specifically acquired in the case of longitudinal follow-up. The cases reported here respond

to well-defined criteria concerning the diagnosis of Duchenne muscular Dystrophy (DMD), reserving special attention Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to equal distribution of patients with regard to spontaneous variation in the clinical course and the

occurrence of secondary functional or orthopaedic involvement (28). The second concerns evaluation of the therapeutic effects. The peculiarity of this analysis resides in the fact that the mean period of observation of the patients was 21.77 years. During this period, complete and regular evaluations were performed by the same investigator (Y.R.), at six-month intervals, from brief hospitalisations, and, on demand, at three-month intervals. In the face of such a state, the controls could not be randomly enrolled, as current protocols required, in the case of therapeutic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical trials of short duration (29). Therefore, the remainder of classical data, accepted worldwide as reliable, remains the gold standard to compare the results obtained. As far as concerns the quantitative plan, two groups have been distinguished, precisely on account of exercising the medical continuity Florfenicol previously pointed out. Indeed, URRC interrupted activity during 2002, certainly with repercussions upon the continuity of the patients’ treatment: the first group comprises the older patients, those born between 1968 and 1976, volunteering from the start for open trials concerning their progressive respiratory insufficiency, whilst systematically requesting adapted ventilation assistance. The selected patients benefited from the entirety of the procedures available.