Juvenile dermatomyositis in Thai children: Retrospective review of 30 cases from a tertiary care center.

BACKGROUND: Juvenile dermatomyositis is a rare condition, but it is the most common idiopathic inflammatory myopathy in pediatric patients. AIM: To study the clinical manifestations, investigations, treatment, clinical course, and outcomes of juvenile dermatomyositis in Thai children. METHOD: This retrospective study included juvenile dermatomyositis patients treated at Siriraj Hospital, a 2,300-bed national tertiary referral center in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1994 to 2019. RESULTS: Thirty patients (22 females and 8 males) were included with a female to male ratio of 2.7:1. Median age at diagnosis was 5.1 years (range, 2.6-14.8 years). Median duration of illness before diagnosis was 6.5 months (range, 0.3-84.0 months). Acute and subacute onset occurred in the majority of patients. Presenting symptoms included muscle weakness in 27/30 (90%), skin rash in 26/30 (86.7%), muscle pain in 17/26 (65.4%), and arthralgia in 4/18 (22.2%) of patients. Dermatologic examination revealed Gottron's rash, heliotrope rash, and periungual telangiectasia in 25/30 (83.3%), 21/30 (70.0%), and 15/24 (62.5%) of patients, respectively. Interestingly, scalp dermatitis was found in 8/21 (38.1%) of patients. The most commonly used treatment regimen in this series was a combination of prednisolone and methotrexate. During the median follow-up of 3.1 years (range, 0.0-18.5 years), only one-third of patients were seen to have monocyclic disease. Extraskeletal osteosarcoma at a previous lesion of calcinosis cutis was observed in one patient at 12 years after juvenile dermatomyositis onset. LIMITATIONS: This was a retrospective single-center study, and our results may not be generalizable to other healthcare settings. Prospective multicenter studies are needed to confirm the findings of this study. CONCLUSION: juvenile dermatomyositis usually poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, which can be compounded by the ethnic variations in the clinical presentation, as observed in this study. Asian patients tend to present with acute or subacute onset of disease, and arthralgia and/or arthritis are less common than in Caucasian patients. Scalp dermatitis is not uncommon in pediatric juvenile dermatomyositis patients. An association between juvenile dermatomyositis and malignancy, though rare, can occur.

Abordagem diagnóstica da dermatomiosite / Diagnostic approach to dermatomiositis

O Instituto Lauro de Souza Lima (ILSL) é um centro de referência dermatológica e a dermatomiosite é uma doença frequente em seu ambulatório. A dermatomiosite é identificada por suas lesões de pele específicas e pela presença de miopatia inflamatória. Sua incidência é baixa. A confirmação diagnóstica é realizada através da análise da apresentação dermatológica, dosagem sérica de enzimas musculares, eletroneuromiografia e biópsias de pele e músculo. Objetivo: analisar a incidência, características clínicas e procedimentos diagnósticos realizados bem como o tempo para o diagnóstico, levando em conta a sua efetividade. Método: estudo retrospectivo dos prontuários de pacientes diagnosticados com dermatomiosite de janeiro de 2000 a abril de 2013 no ILSL. Conclusão: aconselha-se que se dê prioridade ao atendimento de pacientes com os sintomas neurológicos mais sugestivos, tais como: fraqueza muscular e disfagia associadas a lesões de pele, tendo em vista a possibilidade de dermatomiosite.

As the Instituto Lauro de Souza Lima is a Dermatology Reference Center, dermatomyositis is prevalent in its outpatient clinic. Dermatomyositis is identified by its specific skin lesions and inflammatory myopathy and has low incidence. Diagnostic confirmation is made by the dermatological presentation, serum muscle enzymes, electroneuromyography and skin and muscle biopsies. Objective: to analyze the incidence, clinical features, diagnostic procedures and time to diagnosis of dermatomyositis patients, according to the algorithm rationality and effectiveness Methods: it is a retrospective surveillance of Instituto Lauro de Souza Lima (ILSL) patients from January 2000 until April 2013. Conclusion: in a dermatology outpatient department it is advisable to prioritize dermatological cases with neurological symptoms suggestive of dysphagia and muscular weakness with skin lesions, referring for neurological examination due to the possibility of derrmatomyositis.

Dermatomiosite ou hanseníase? valorizando o exame físico / Dermatomyositis or hansen’s disease? the value of physical examination

A hanseníase é uma doença infectocontagiosa com várias apresentações clínicas, a depender da resposta imunológica do paciente. Os autores relatam o caso de uma paciente com o diagnóstico clínico e histopatológico iniciais de dermatomiosite que obteve melhora após o uso de corticosteróide sistêmico. Entretanto, uma reavaliação da paciente, com um exame físico minucioso, reorientou o diagnóstico para o correto: hanseníase

Leprosy is an infectious disease with various clinical presentations, depending on the patient’s immune response. The authors report a case of a patient with initial clinical and histopathological diagnosis of dermatomyositis which improved after therapy with systemic corticosteroid. However, a reassessment of the patient, with a careful physical examination, redirected to the correct diagnosis: leprosy

Dermatomyositis in a human immunodeficiency virus infected person.

It is interesting to study an autoimmune condition like dermatomyositis (DM) in the setting of immunosuppression due to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. An HIV seropositive female aged 30 years, presented with a nonitchy rash over the face, breathlessness, diarrhoea and difficulty in raising her hands above her head. A heliotrope rash around the eyes, Gottron's papules and proximal muscle weakness were found to be present. C reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and lactate dehydrogenase levels were raised, but creatinine phosphokinase and anti-nuclear antibody profile were normal. Her HIV serostatus was confirmed by Western blotting, keeping in mind the potential for false positive HIV serology in an autoimmune disorder. Her CD4 count was 379 cells/mm3. An X-ray of the chest showed bilateral pleural effusion with raised pleural fluid adenosine deaminase levels. Clinical findings and laboratory investigations favored the diagnosis of DM and HIV infection with tuberculous effusion in an HIV seropositive patient. She was treated with antibiotics, four-drug anti-tubercular treatment, systemic steroids and later, antiretroviral treatment. Chances of a false positive antibody test for HIV should be considered in a patient having an autoimmune disease such as DM.

Childhood sclerodermatomyositis with generalized morphea.

Systemic sclerosis (SS) and dermatomyositis (DM) are both multisystem disorders and share some common clinical features. We report here an 11 year-old girl whose disease showed a changing clinical pattern from juvenile systemic sclerosis (JSS) to slowly progressing juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) and had associated generalized morphea. Serological studies revealed antinuclear antibodies (ANA) with a speckled pattern. Topoisomerase-I (Scl-70), U1 RNP (ribonucleoprotein), anti-Ro, anti-La and anti Jo-1 antibody tests were negative. Electromyography (EMG) was suggestive of primary muscle disease and histopathological findings indicated scleroderma. The patient fulfilled the American College Rheumatology (ACR) diagnostic criteria for JSS as well as Bohan and Peter criteria for JDM separately and hence, was diagnosed to have sclerodermatomyositis (SDM). Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and antisynthetase antibody syndrome (ASS) which share same clinical features with SS and DM were excluded by immunological studies.

[Association of Virchowian hanseniasis, dermatopolymyositis and gastric adenocarcinoma. Report of a case]. / Associação entre hanseníase virchowiana dermatopolimiosite e adenocarcinoma gástrico--relato de um caso.

The authors report a case of lepromatous leprosy associated with dermatopolymyositis and gastric adenocarcinoma. The literature is reviewed and the authors discuss about this association.

The rheumatic manifestations of leprosy (Hansen disease).

Leprosy is a rare disorder in the United States, yet the rheumatic features of the disease appear to be common and frequently are the primary complaint. We observed rheumatic syndromes of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) occurring with and without arthritis, a swollen hands syndrome, cutaneous vasculitis, or myositis in the majority (15 of 21) of our patients. These syndromes were distinctive, sometimes dramatic, and appeared to "mimic" idiopathic rheumatic diseases, substantially delaying an accurate diagnosis of leprosy in some patients. These complications were the major cause of morbidity in our 21 patients and became dominant clinical problems requiring additional chemotherapy.

Case of suspected connective tissue disease presenting as chronic edema or swelling of face, neck, and upper trunk.

An adequate biopsy that includes the subcutaneous tissue is very helpful in the evaluation of patients with suspected connective tissue disease. However, the histologic features must often be correlated with the clinical features and other laboratory tests for a definitive diagnosis. An objective histologic diagnosis can usually be made in scleroderma, lupus erythematosus panniculitis, amyloidosis, and angioedema, and in diseases such as lepromatous leprosy and mycosis fungoids (which are sometimes confused with connective tissue diseases). Correlation with clinical features and, sometimes, other laboratory tests is often required to establish a diagnosis of scleredema, dermatomyositis, myxedema, and lichen myxedematosus. The features in cheilitis granulomatosa usually are not specific, but a biopsy is helpful to rule out other diseases.