Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics of dermatomyositis ( DM) and polymyositis ( PM) with pulmonary involvement. Methods A retrospective study was performed in 27 DM/PM patients with pulmonary involvement, who were admitted to the First People’s Hospital of Kunming fromJanuary2001 to December 2009. The clinical manifestation, laboratory examination, chest high resolution CT ( HRCT) , pulmonary function test, treatment efficacy and prognosis were analyzed. Results In 27 DM/PM patients with pulmonary involvement, pulmonary manifestations occurred in 23 cases, such as cough ( 44% ) , expectoration ( 30% ) , and dyspnea ( 11% ) . Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, creatine kinase, C-reactive protein, and lactic dehydrogenase were significantly increased in 63% , 67% , 56% , and 44% of patients. Anti-Jo-1 antibody was positive in eight cases ( 29% ) . The electromyogram ( EMG) revealed myogenic changes in all patients. Pulmonary interstitial changes were the predominant HRCT manifestations. Pulmonary function test revealed mainly restrictive ventilation dysfunction and decreased diffusion capacity. Most patients had a good prognosis by glucocorticoid treatment. Conclusions For patients with DM/PM, especially who present nonspecific pulmonary symptoms, chest HRCT and pulmonary function test should be recommended as early screening tools.
Objective To improve the vigilance and awareness of malignancy presenting as dermatosis and reduce misdiagnosis. Methods Two cases of gastric cancer presenting as dermatomyositis and erythroderma respectively in the last two years were retrospectively analyzed and the relevant literatures were reviewed. Results The two patients were admitted to hospital due to skin diseases， diagnosis of gastric cancer through endoscopy， and proved to be gastric cancer associated with dermatosis by pathological examination after surgical resection. Conclusions Paraneoplastic dermatoses can be seen as an early manifestation of the internal malignancy. The patients with paraneoplastic dermatoses should be excluded visceral tumors by the means of biomarkers， endoscopy， PET/CT， and so on.
ObjectiveTo analyze the incidence of heart disease, its clinical manifestations and risk factors in patients with polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM). MethodWe collected the clinical data of 138 PM (n=78) and DM (n=60) patients treated between January 2008 and March 2014, among whom there were 64 males and 74 females with an average age of (48.5±19.6) years old, and an average disease course of (84.5±6.9) months. We analyzed their incidence of heart disease, its clinical manifestations and the risk factors. Subsequently, we adopted single-factor analysis to analyze such factors as age, gender, disease course, kinds of disease, creatine kinase (CK), CK-MB, CK-MB/CK, troponin T, antinuclear antibodies, anti-SSA antibody, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, disease activity score, muscle force, pulmonary interstitial lesions and pulmonary artery hypertension. ResultsThere were 59 (42.7%) patients with heart disease, 48 (34.8%) with abnormal electrocardiogram, and 52 (37.7%) with abnormal color Doppler ultrasound results. Logistics multiple factors regression analysis found that the course of the disease (OR=1.669, P=0.010), myositis disease activity score (OR=7.456, P<0.001), pulmonary interstitial lesions (OR=4.568, P=0.014) were risk factor for heart disease in PM/DM patients. ConclusionsLong disease course duration, high myositis activity score and pulmonary interstitial lesions are strong predictors for heart damage in PM/DM patients.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics of polymyositis (PM)/dermatomyositis (DM) with acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) as the presenting symptoms, and identify characteristics of such disease. MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on the hospitalized patients with PM/DM with AIP as the presenting symptoms, from October 2009 to June 2015 in the Departemnt of Respiratory Medicine, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases. ResultsThey were two males and six females with a mean age of 54.8±7.5 years. The common clinical features included fever (8 cases), shortness of breath (8 cases), rapidly progressive exertional dyspnea (8 cases), dry cough (6 cases), decreased muscle strength (8 cases), and typical rash (7 cases). Electromyography showed neurogenic or myogenic leision in these 8 cases. Muscle biopsy revealed myositis in 7 cases. High resolution CT (HRCT) revealed widespread ground glass patterns in all patients. All patients received noninvasive positive pressure mechanical ventilation on the first hospital day. High dose of methylprednisolone or combination with intravenous cyclophosphamide were initiated on 2.3±1.4 hospital day. Six patients survived to hospital discharge and two patient died. ConclusionsThe most common symptoms in patients of PM/DM with AIP are shortness of breath, progressive exertional dyspnea, and dry cough. Typical rash is seen in most of the patients.The diagnosis can be established by combinating the characteristics of HRCT, electromyography and muscle biopsy. Earlier intervention with noninvasive positive pressure mechanical ventilation and immunosuppressive may improve clinical outcome in patients of PM/DM with AIP.
Melanoma differentiation associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody is a kind of myositis-specific autoantibodies, which can be used as a biological marker for dermatomyositis (DM) patients. It has been shown that this antibody is closely related to the occurrence of interstilung disease (ILD) in DM patients, which may lead to rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease in DM patients with MDA5 antibody positive, leading to a higher mortality rate. Therefore, the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of this disease have attracted the attention of clinical workers. In this paper, the progress of diagnosis and treatment of MDA5 antibody-positive DM with ILD is reviewed.
Objective To evaluate the clinical relationship between serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and mortality of anti-melanoma differentiation associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody positive dermatomyositis with interstitial lung disease (ILD). MethodsThe consecutive clinical data of 214 patients with anti MDA5 antibody positive dermatomyositis from West China Hospital of Sichuan University from February 2017 to September 2019 were collected retrospectively, including demographic, laboratory examination and imaging examination data. Patients were divided into CEA elevated group (CEA≥4.63 ng/mL) and CEA normal group (CEA<4.63 ng/mL) according to CEA level. R4.1.2 software was used for statistical analysis of all data, and Kaplan Meier method was used to draw the survival curve. Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze the survival of patients with ILD, and to explore the risk factors associated with the survival of patients with anti-MDA5 antibody positive dermatomyositis with ILD. Results There were 180 patients with ILD who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 57 patients with rapidly progressive pulmonary interstitial fibrosis (RPILD), and 123 patients without RPILD; 121 women and 59 men, with an average age of 50.2±10.7 years; The average follow-up was 23.5 months, and 52 patients died. Univariable analysis suggested that CEA≥4.63 ng/mL, smoking, RPILD, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ≥321 IU/L, albumin<30 g/L and dyspnea were risk factors associated with death in patients with anti MDA5 dermatomyositis combined with ILD. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that CEA≥4.63 ng/mL [hazard ratio (HR) =3.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23 - 7.32, P=0.015], RPILD (HR=3.87, 95%CI 2.09 - 7.19, P<0.001), smoking (HR=2.37, 95%CI 1.25 - 4.47, P=0.008), LDH≥321 IU/L (HR=2.47, 95%CI 1.23 - 4.96, P=0.011), albumin<30 g/L (HR=2.57, 95%CI 1.38 - 4.78, P=0.003) were independent predictors for mortality. ConclusionsSerum CEA level can be used as a clinical prognostic predictor in patients with anti-MDA5 positive dermatomyositis and ILD. RPILD, smoking, LDH≥321 IU/L, and albumin<30 g/L are independent predictors for mortality.