Dermatomyositis is a rare, multisystem disorder mainly affecting the skin, muscle and blood vessels in which characteristic erythematous and oedematous changes in the skin are usually associated with muscle weakness and inflammation. In adults the condition is commonly associated with an underlying carcinoma or lymphoma, and this is especially so for male patients and those aged over 55 years.

Polymyositis and dermatomyositis are two of the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, a group of rare systemic autoinflammatory disorders of unknown cause

Myositis education, information, and updates for patients and caregivers living with this rare, autoimmune disease.

Polymyositis is one of a group of rare muscle diseases called inflammatory myopathies, which are characterized by chronic muscle inflammation accompanied by muscle weakness.

Clinical features of dermatomyositis and polymyositis

polymyositis, what to know?

Myositis means inflammation of the muscles. Two specific types are polymyositis and dermatomyositis. Read about myositis symptoms and management.

This post discusses disability benefits for Polymyositis. If you are unable to work due to this rare disorder, read on for how the Social Security

.Chapters0:00 Introduction0:32 What are the causes of Polymyositis1:23 What are the signs and symptoms of Polymyositis2:36 What are the treatment for Polymyo...

A comparison of inflammatory myopathies

So I needed to get real and face what might be going to happen if the immunosuppressants do not work to stop the progression of the disease....

If you have dermatomyositis, polymyositis, or incusion body myositis that severely limits your activities, you might be eligible for Social Security disability.

Polymyositis (PM) is an autoimmune condition in which your body's immune system attacks healthy muscle tissue. PM mainly affects skeletal muscles, which are the muscles involved in movement on both sides of your body. The cause of PM is...

Dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) are idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, characterized by the shared features of proximal skeletal muscle weakness and

Our experience demonstrates the beneficial effect and the safety of SCIg administration in active and refractory inflammatory myopathies.

Myositis

Adverse Effects of Fog Machine Vapors

Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies include Dermatomyositis, Polymyositis, Inclusion Body Myositis, immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy, antisynthtase syndrome.

Background Pregnancies complicated by a number of rheumatic diseases are known to be at high risk for the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs). There have been several reports on the risk of APOs in systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, but few reports on polymyositis (PM)/dermatomyositis (DM) pregnancies. There are also insufficient reports on changes in the activity of PM/DM during pregnancy. Based on the findings reported in other rheumatic diseases, it is suggested that increased activity during pregnancy is associated with APOs in PM/DM (1-3). However, the risk factors for pregnancy outcome in pregnancies complicated by PM/DM, including the presence or absence of worsening of disease activity, have not been clarified. Objectives The purpose of this study was to analyze a case series of PM/DM complicated pregnancies in a single center to determine the changes in disease activity during pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. Methods PM/DM patients who were managed from pregnancy to delivery at Kagawa University Hospital from March 2006 to May 2021 were included in this study. Clinical indices including duration of illness, disease activity, and treatment were extracted from medical records and retrospectively analyzed for association with pregnancy outcome. Results Eight PM/DM pregnancies were included in the analysis. The mean age at delivery was 28.3±3.8 years and the mean duration of disease was 6.3±3.2 years. Treatment at the time of pregnancy included glucocorticoids (GC) in 7 cases and immunosuppressive drugs in 5 cases. Creatinine phosphokinase (CK) levels were normal in all patients at the time of pregnancy, but increased during pregnancy in 4 (50%) patients. These 4 patients with elevated CK required treatment with increasing doses of GC, and the mean GC dose during pregnancy was 10.9 ± 6.0 mg/day. [Table 1][1] shows the pregnancy outcomes of the 8 patients. There was one spontaneous abortion and seven live births. Among the live births, 2 were preterm and 4 were low birth weight. The mean gestational age at delivery was 35.3±5.2 weeks and the mean birth weight was 2297.7±1041.4g. View this table: Table 1. Pregnancy outcomes of eight cases The birth outcomes of the 2 patients who received continuous immunosuppressive therapy were full-term and normal weight infants. APOs, such as preterm delivery and low birth weight, occurred in cases with increased CK levels and increased GC doses. Conclusion In pregnancies of PM/DM patients, pregnancy outcome was less than favorable. An association between disease activity and the development of APOs during pregnancy in PM/DM was suggested. An association was also suggested between GC dose and the risk of developing APOs. As in other rheumatic disease pregnancies, continued use of pregnancy-appropriate immunosuppressive drugs and control of disease activity with lower glucocorticoid doses in PM/DM pregnancies may be important to achieve good pregnancy outcomes. References [1]Nagy-Vincze M, Vencovsky J, Lundberg IE, Danko K (2014) Pregnancy outcome in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy patients in a multicenter study. J Rheumatol 41:2492-2494. [2]Zhong Z, Lin F, Yang J, Zhang F, Zeng X, You X (2017) Pregnancy in polymyositis or dermatomyositis: retrospective results from tertiary centre in China. Rheumatology (Oxford) 56:1272-1275. [3]Kolstad KD, Fiorentino D, Li S, Chakravarty EF, Chung L (2018) Pregnancy outcomes in adult patients with dermatomyositis and polymyositis. Semin Arthritis Rheum 47:865-869. Disclosure of Interests None declared [1]: #T1

While the cardioprotective benefits of statins for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are well-established, there might be a hesitation in recommending the