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Query: UMLS:C0027121 (myositis)
 4,538 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Juvenile dermatomyositis is a relatively rare, multisystem disease characterized by a nonsuppurative myositis which causes symmetrical weakness, rash and vasculitis; this last can affect the gastrointestinal tract and the myocardium. Late development of calcinosis is seen in approximately two thirds of patients. Its etiology is unknown, although there are clues that it may be an unusual response to a viral infection. Some 50% of children will have a very acute, rapidly progressive disease, while the remainder may present subacutely with rash and a gradually progressive weakness of muscles, joint contractures and very occasionally calcinosis. When there is acute muscle damage, the creatine phosphokinase will be raised, but it is not uncommon to have a normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and antinuclear antibodies are usually present. Early in acute cases immune complexes will often be detected. In the presence of vasculitis, monitoring the disease by levels of von Willebrand's factor 8 antigen may be helpful. Although the prognosis for survival has steadily improved, it remains a serious illness and death can occur in the acute phase due to myocarditis, progressive unresponsive myositis, perforation of the bowel as a sequel to vasculitis ulceration or occasionally lung involvement. Intercurrent infections during the course of the disease also give rise to problems. In its management, there is still a question as to whether intravenous pulses of methylprednisone might be more valuable than oral corticosteroids; in either case it must be given in adequate amounts early in the course of the disease to control muscle inflammation. Once this is controlled rehabilitation commences.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Juvenile dermatomyositis. 153 78

Twenty five patients with idiopathic myositis attended this department for long term follow up from 1980 to 1989. Twelve patients had primary polymyositis (four men, eight women) and six had primary dermatomyositis (three men, three women); five women had an overlap syndrome. Two patients had a malignant condition associated with the myositis. The mean age at diagnosis was 40 years. All of the patients had proximal muscle weakness, 18/25 had a raised creatine kinase value (mean 2325 IU/l), 19/20 had an abnormal electromyogram, and 19/24 had positive muscle biopsy samples. Of the disease specific antibodies, anti-Jo-1 was detected in only 1/21 patients tested (three patients with fibrosing alveolitis were negative for this antibody), but the 56 kDa antibody was detected in 12/17 patients. The HLA data analysed in the white patients (17/25) showed that 6/8 of those tested were HLA-DR3 positive. All patients were treated with prednisolone and azathioprine was used for 14/25 patients. Only three deaths occurred during the eight year follow up, but there was a substantial morbidity, which may reflect the referral pattern. Muscle strength tests and creatine kinase levels were useful in recording the response to treatment in some patients. These data emphasise that careful long term follow up of patients with myositis is mandatory and that although the present treatment strategy has substantially reduced the death rate, morbidity associated with the disease remains a major problem.
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PMID:Idiopathic myositis: a rheumatological view. 154 36

Myositis and myocarditis have been reported in progressive systemic sclerosis, and these patients have had favorable therapeutic responses to intravenous pulse methylprednisolone. Thus far, premortem biopsy documentation of myocarditis and myocardial fibrosis has not been reported in such patients. We report the case of a patient with subacute congestive heart failure six months after she developed Raynaud's phenomenon. Clinical examination was typical of scleroderma but there was no proximal muscle weakness. She had elevated creatine kinase and MB-creatine kinase and laboratory evidence of hypothyroidism. Echocardiogram demonstrated four-chamber dilatation and severe left ventricular dysfunction. Cardiac catheterization revealed normal epicardial coronary arteries and severely decreased cardiac index. A skin biopsy specimen of the forearm was consistent with diffuse systemic sclerosis, and an endomyocardial biopsy specimen demonstrated mild fibrosis and lymphocytic infiltrate. Her heart failure initially improved with digoxin, furosemide, and enalapril. She also received L-thyroxine and intravenous methylprednisolone. The heart failure progressed over the next six weeks and she died. Patients with scleroderma and new-onset heart failure may have acute myocarditis.
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PMID:Acute myocarditis in fulminant systemic sclerosis. 154 Nov 69

A case of dermatomyositis which developed one month after normal delivery and subsided spontaneously was reported. A 29-year-old woman gave birth to a healthy child. One month later, she noticed muscular pain and weakness of the upper extremities. On admission, there were diffuse edema of upper eyelids with heliotrope rash. The reddish skin rashes were observed on the extensor surfaces of the PIP and MP joints of fingers. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 29 mm/hr. The lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), SGOT, CK levels were 470 (normal 150 to 320 IU/l), 43 (normal 6 to 25 IU/l) and 317 (normal 21 to 110 IU/l) respectively. Autoantibodies to nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens were negative. Rheumatoid factor and anti-DNA antibody were negative. Thyroid function was normal. An electromyogram (EMG) demonstrated small amplitude short-duration polyphasic motor unit potentials. The muscle biopsy specimen from left upper arm showed degenerating muscle fibers and infiltration of inflammatory cells surrounding blood vessels. The skin biopsy revealed the presence of edema and perivascular infiltration of lymphocytes. Based on these clinical features and results of various diagnostic tests, a diagnosis of dermatomyositis was established. After the admission, muscle strength has improved dramatically and the CK returned to normal level without specific drug therapy. She has since been seen as an out patient, and complete remission lasted for two years up to date. Review of the literature disclosed that 13 cases of PM/DM which developed during pregnancy or postpartum have been reported including the present case. Detailed analysis showed that these patients were characterized by mild muscular diseases, rare occurrence of internal organ involvements and good response to steroid therapy. As our case, a spontaneous remission was also observed. Although the mechanism involved in occurrence of inflammatory myositis associated with pregnancy or delivery are not clarified, these patient indicated a presence of subset of PM/DM which do not require intensive drug therapy.
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PMID:[Spontaneous remission of dermatomyositis which developed one month after normal delivery]. 160 20

The IIM are a heterogeneous group of systemic rheumatic diseases which share the common features of chronic muscle weakness and mononuclear cell infiltrates in muscle. A number of classification schemes have been proposed for them, but none takes into consideration the marked immunologic, clinical, and genetic heterogeneity of the various clinical groups. We compared the usefulness of myositis-specific autoantibodies (anti-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, anti-SRP, anti-Mi-2 and anti-MAS) to the standard clinical categories (polymyositis, dermatomyositis, overlap myositis, cancer-associated myositis, and inclusion body myositis) in predicting clinical signs and symptoms, HLA types, and prognosis in 212 adult IIM patients. Although patients with inclusion body myositis (n = 26) differed in having significantly more asymmetric and distal weakness, falling, and atrophy than other patients, there were few other significant differences among the other clinical groups. In contrast, autoantibody status defined distinct sets of patients and each patient had only 1 myositis-specific autoantibody. Patients with anti-amino-acyl-tRNA synthetase autoantibodies (n = 47), compared to those without these antibodies, had significantly more frequent arthritis, fever, interstitial lung disease, and "mechanic's hands"; HLA-DRw52; higher mean prednisone dose at survey, higher proportion of patients receiving cytotoxic drugs, and higher death rates. Those with anti-signal recognition particle antibodies (n = 7) had increased palpitations; myalgias; DR5, DRw52; severe, refractory disease; and higher death rates. Patients with anti-Mi-2 antibodies (n = 10) had increased "V-sign" and "shawl-sign" rashes, and cuticular overgrowth; DR7 and DRw53; and a good response to therapy. The 2 patients with anti-MAS antibodies were the only ones with alcoholic rhabdomyolysis preceding myositis; both had insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and both had HLA-B60, -C3, -DR4, and -DRw53. These findings suggest that myositis-specific autoantibody status is a more useful guide than clinical group in assessing patients with myositis, and that specific associations of immunogenetics, immune responses, and clinical manifestations occur in IIM. Thus the myositis-specific autoantibodies aid in interpreting the diverse symptoms and signs of myositis patients and in predicting their clinical course and prognosis. We propose, therefore, that an adjunct classification of the IIM, based on the myositis-specific autoantibody status, be incorporated into future studies of their epidemiology, etiology, and therapy.
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PMID:A new approach to the classification of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy: myositis-specific autoantibodies define useful homogeneous patient groups. 165 47

Polymyositis and dermatomyositis are inflammatory myopathies characterized by proximal muscle weakness and myopathic electromyographic and histological findings. While the causes of myositis are not known, the close association of these disorders with a spectrum of autoantibodies suggests an etiologic and/or pathogenetic role for autoimmune processes. Of particular interest in this regard are antibodies directed against histidyl as well as other tRNA synthetases which are almost uniquely associated with myositis and may define a distinct subset of patients. Recently we isolated the histidyl tRNA synthetase gene which encodes the autoantigen representing the most frequent target of the myositis autoimmune response. The isolation and expression of this gene has allowed us to investigate both the autoreactive epitopes on histidyl-tRNA synthetase and the extent to which these correlate with functional epitopes on the molecule. As described here, the results of these studies as well as other recent data pertaining to the immunopathogenesis of myositis, provide a framework for delineating the mechanisms which render synthetases and other translation-related proteins autoantigenic in myositis, and allow one to examine the significance of such autoimmune responses in the etiology and pathogenesis of inflammatory myopathy.
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PMID:Anti-Jo-1 autoantibodies and the immunopathogenesis of autoimmune myositis. 172 33

The study was undertaken to test the widely held hypothesis that a painful lesion of the skeleto-motor system leads to an increase in the neuromuscular component of muscle tone by activating gamma-motoneurones in the affected region. In chloralose-anaesthetized cats, artificial myositis was induced in the lateral gastrocnemius-soleus (LGS) muscle and several hours later the impulse activity was recorded from single gamma-motoaxons supplying the medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle. Under the conditions of the study, the majority of the fusimotor neurones had a resting activity and could be readily excited by natural stimuli. In contrast to the assumptions of the working hypothesis, the gamma-motoneurones in the myositis animals were not activated but showed a strong inhibition; both resting activity and excitability by electrical and natural stimuli were decreased. Additional recordings from fusimotor neurones of a flexor muscle (tibialis anterior, TA) demonstrated that in the preparation used, the behaviour of the flexor gamma-motoneurones was different from extensor ones in that the former usually had no resting activity and did not respond to natural stimuli. The only discernible effect of a myositis of the LGS muscle on the TA gamma-motoneurones was a decrease in their electrical reflex threshold. The results of the study do not support the assumption that a painful muscle lesion is followed by an activation of the gamma-loop that leads to an increase in muscle tone. Instead, the data may offer an explanation for the weakness and--in chronic cases--the reflex atrophy of lesioned muscles.
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PMID:Discharge behaviour of feline gamma-motoneurones following induction of an artificial myositis. 174 44

Juvenile dermatomyositis is a multisystem disease characterized by muscular inflammation affecting primarily the skin and muscle; it presents as a nonsuppurative myositis causing symmetrical weakness and typical skin rashes that affect the face and hands in particular, but can occur at any site. In the last few years, a number of reviews have been published, this article only highlights some points of interest.
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PMID:Juvenile dermatomyositis. 176 82

Animal models have proven very useful in furthering insight into a number of muscle diseases. Studies of ethanol-fed rats are being used to understand the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying acute and chronic myopathy induced by ethanol. Several animal species, including mice, dogs, and cats, develop X-linked muscular dystrophies, which have genetic defects identical to those of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. As in the human disease, these animals lack dystrophin. They are being used to investigate the mechanisms by which lack of dystrophin results in weakness and to examine myoblast transfer as a treatment modality. A model of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome has recently been induced in Lewis rats by the feeding of L-tryptophan samples that were implicated in the clinical syndrome in humans, making possible studies of the pathogenesis of this interesting new entity. A dermatomyositis-like syndrome occurs spontaneously in dogs, and polymyositis-like illnesses can be induced in mice by immunization with muscle or following infection with selected viruses, especially enteroviruses. Study of the latter is helping us understand mechanisms in the etiology and pathogenesis of inflammatory myositis and virus-induced autoimmunity.
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PMID:Animal models of myopathy. 177 47

A 47-year-old woman with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) was reported. She developed various neuromuscular complications including carpal tunnel syndrome, narrowing of visual field, dysesthesia on face and extremities and weakness before elevation of antibody to RNP. On the examination of biopsied specimens of muscle and peripheral nerve, myositis and demyelination were suspected, respectively. Electroencephalography showed diffuse slowing which was without clinical evidence of the central nervous system involvement and was normalized by the treatment with prednisolone. Present case seems to provide some insights into the neuromuscular complications in MCTD.
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PMID:[Mixed connective tissue disease--various neuromuscular complications prior to the elevation of antibody to RNP]. 180 73


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