DES and heart failure: Hence, desmin is strongly associated to the aetiology of several muscle pathologies such as dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy, atypical cardiomyopathy, heart failure, sleep apnea, asthma, respiratory insufficiency, dysphagia, myofibrillar myopathies or muscle wasting18–21.