OBJECTIVE To devise new tools to assess activity and damage in patients with idiopathic myopathies (IIM). METHODS An international multidisciplinary consensus effort to standardize the conduct and reporting of the myositis clinical trials has been established. Two tools, known as the myositis intention to treat index (MITAX) and the myositis disease activity assessment visual analogue scale (...

Inflammatory myositis is reported in 4-16% of adult systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of myositis in a cohort of pediatric SLE patients in the southeastern United States. A retrospective chart review was performed of 55 SLE patients evaluated by Pediatric Rheumatologists in Alabama since January 1, 2008. Patients were defined as h...

Unique autoantibody specificities are strongly associated with distinct clinical phenotypes, making autoantibodies useful for diagnosis and prognosis. To investigate the mechanisms underlying this striking association, we examined autoantigen expression in normal muscle and in muscle from patients with autoimmune myositis. Although myositis autoantigens are expressed at very low levels in contr...

AIMS To investigate the association between scleritis and myositis. METHODS Retrospective, non-comparative case series. Records and ultrasonograms were examined of 132 patients, with a diagnosis of episcleritis or scleritis, who attended the ophthalmology department at Leiden University Medical Center between 1997 and 2000. 103 were eligible for comprehensive examination. Medical records were...

fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (fop) is a rare hereditary connective tissue disease characterized by the progressive ectopic ossification of ligaments, tendons, and facial and skeletal muscles throughout life. symptoms begin in childhood as localized soft tissue swellings. immobility and articular dysfunction appear with involvement of the spine and proximal extremities. the temporomandi...

In this case, we describe an unusual presentation of a young woman with a rash typical of morphoea (confirmed on biopsy), who went on to develop myositis in an atypical distribution. Although the association of myositis with diffuse systemic sclerosis is well described, the link with localised scleroderma (morphoea) and myositis has not been described.

A 69 year old woman with inclusion body myositis is described. She presented with benign monoclonal gammopathy. She was resistant to steroid therapy, but responded to repeated immunoabsorption. Up to now, there has been no established therapy for inclusion body myositis, including IVIg. It is suggested that immunoabsorption could be an alternative therapy for inclusion body myositis, when it wa...

BACKGROUND Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a prognostic indicator of poor outcome in myositis. Although the pathogenesis of myositis-associated ILD is not well understood, neutrophils are thought to play a pivotal role. Neutrophils store azurophil granules that contain defensins, which are antimicrobial peptides that regulate the inflammatory response. Here, we evaluated levels of the human ...

OBJECTIVES To assess the association between inflammatory lung disease and the risk of developing idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. METHODS A population-based case-control study was conducted. Adult myositis cases, identified from the Swedish inpatient registry (diagnosed between 1995 and 1997), and randomly selected controls matched to cases on the date of birth, gender and residency, were...

Myositis ossificans is a benign self limiting condition that usually related to trauma. Despite a clinically and histologically distinct entity, myositis ossificans still causes considerable difficulties in diagnosis. A 33-year-old Moroccan woman presented with a 2-month history of left inguinal inflammatory pain with limping gait, MRI examination suggested a malignant neoplasm such as soft tis...