Control of dermatomyositis skin disease activity lags behind control of muscles disease activity during the early treatment stages of classic dermatomyositis: A retrospective, single-centre study.

This study aimed to retrospectively identify differences in relative control of cutaneous and muscular disease activity in adult dermatomyositis (DM) patients at a single, tertiary care centre following initiation of diagnosis and treatment. Our results demonstrated a significantly lower complete treatment response rate of skin disease compared to muscular disease at 6-months and persistent but not statistically significant lower skin disease response at 12 months. These results suggest DM skin disease activity may be more refractory to treatment than muscle disease activity, especially in the early disease phase.