Current concepts and advances in dermatomyositis: a dermatological perspective.

ABSTRACT

Dermatomyositis (DM) is an autoimmune disorder in which clinically amyopathic DM, characterised by hallmark cutaneous findings in the absence of clinical weakness, represents 20% of patients. This review will highlight current concepts and recent advances made in DM from a dermatological perspective, with a discussion of skin-predominant DM and its distinct challenges regarding diagnosis and management as well as their implications in clinical trials. An update will be presented with respect to classification criteria, pathogenesis in cutaneous DM, myositis-specific autoantibodies and their associations with cutaneous findings, skin-specific outcome measures and new therapeutics with their efficacy in skin disease.