A 14-year-old Chinese boy with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy underwent a posterior spinal fusion and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital instrumentation for deteriorating scoliosis of the thoracolumbar spine. He was anaesthetized using a target-controlled infusion (TCI) of propofol and an alfentanil infusion supplemented by nitrous oxide. Seven hours into the procedure he suddenly developed a broad complex bradycardia followed by asysole from which he was promptly resuscitated. The operation was completed and he suffered no neurological deficit. The possible cause of this event in view of the risk of cardiac and metabolic complications in Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy is discussed and the anaesthetic technique utilized in this case is described. CASE REPORT A Chinese boy with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) first presented at the age of nine years with proximal muscle weakness, abduction contracture of both hips and equinus deformity of the right ankle. A bilateral ilio-tibial tract release was carried out at this time under general anaesthesia and was uneventful apart from a short-lived, unexplained postoperative pyrexia which resolved spontaneously and was not further investigated. He was wheelchair-bound within two years and by the age of 13 years had developed a thoracolumbar scoliosis. This was rapidly progressive with a deterioration of the spinal curve from 66 0 to 80 0 over the year prior to surgery. Preoperative assessment revealed obvious clinical 'ER.C.A.