Mycophenolate mofetil treatment in resistant myositis.

OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and tolerability of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in six patients with myositis refractory to conventional immunosuppressive therapy. METHODS Six patients were identified from hospital notes. All had previously failed to respond to other immunosuppressive treatments. Efficacy was measured as changes in muscle strength, creatine kinase (CK) levels and prednisolone dose. RESULTS The mean age of the group was 49.8 +/- 9.1 yrs, 6 (100%) were female and Caucasian. Patients had failed to respond to a median of 3 (range 1-3) immunosuppressive drugs. They received MMF for a mean of 22.3 +/- 18.9 months with a mean MMF dose of 1.6 +/- 0.5 g/day. The mean initial prednisolone dose was 13.7 +/- 7.7 mg and the mean follow up dose was 8.5 +/- 4.9 mg/day (P = 0.03). CK levels were reduced from mean 2395 IU/l +/- 1202.8 to 746.6 +/- 555.8 IU/l (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION Our data demonstrate that MMF may be effective in myositis, previously unresponsive to conventional immunosuppressive drugs.