The following evaluations will be designated but not centrally funded from April 2001. The service will provide a network of specialist services offering an integrated clinical and investigative diagnostic and advisory service for patients with specified forms of rare inherited neuromuscular diseases, the limb girdle muscular dystrophies, congenital muscular dystrophies, congenital muscular dystrophies, congenital myasthenic syndromes and ion channel disorders of the muscle. The network is based on the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign Neuro muscular centres, and will enable all patients with these disorders access to specialised diagnosis and advice on management and treatment. These centres are Hammersmith Hospital, Oxford Radcliffe Hospital, Institute of Neurology and Newcastle Hospital. These disorders are individually rare, usually progressive and always a disabling condition of the skeletal muscle.
Diagnosis can be problematical and requires expert knowledge.
The expertise to deal with the diagnosis and the management of these different disorders has been developed in the individual centres listed above. Oxford Ion channel disorders - Queens square. This evaluation will seek to evaluate the efficacy of a pulsatile ventricular assist device as a bridge to transplantation in infants and children with dilated cardiomyopathy. This ervice will be commisioned centrally whilst it is undergoing evaluation.