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Dermatomyositis Causes and Risks:
The cause of this disorder is unknown. It is theorized that an autoimmune reaction or a viral infection of the skeletal muscle may cause the disease. It can affect people at any age, but most commonly occurs in people fifty to sixty years old or in children from 5 to 15 years old. It affects women twice as often as men. Muscle weakness may appear suddenly or occur slowly over weeks or months. There may be difficulty with raising the arms over the head, rising from a sitting position, and climbing stairs. A dusky, red rash may appear over the face, neck, shoulders, upper chest, and back. Joint pain , inflammation of the heart , and lung (pulmonary) disease may occur. A malignancy may rarely be associated with this disorder. A similar condition is called polymyositis when the symptoms occur without any skin manifestations. The incidence of dermatomyositis is 5 out of 10,000 people.
Prevention:
There is no known prevention for this rare disorder.
Symptoms:
Signs and Tests:
A physical examination shows muscle weakness and typical rash .
Tests may include: This disease may also alter the results of the following tests:
Treatment:
The disease is treated with corticosteroid medications and physical therapy. When an improvement of muscle strength is achieved, the medication is slowly tapered. Maintenance therapy with prednisone is usually continued indefinitely. In people who fail to respond to corticosteroids, medications to suppress the immune system may be required.
If the condition is associated with a tumor , the condition may improve if the tumor is removed.
Childhood dermatomyositis is not associated with malignancy .
Prognosis:
Remissions and recovery have been reported, especially in children. In adults, death may result from severe and prolonged muscle weakness , malnutrition , pneumonia , or respiratory failure. The outcome is usually worse if cardiac or pulmonary involvement is present.
Complications:
Call Your Healthcare Provider:
Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you experience the signs and symptoms of dermatomyositis.
Red, thickened, scaly skin over the knuckles (Gottron Papules) associated with dermatomyositis, an autoimmune disease of the skin and muscles.
This violet-colored inflammation (erythema) over the knuckles is caused by Dermatomyositis. Other skin conditions produce more redness, while the color of this lesion is violet. There may also be inflammation in the muscle tissue.
Calcium, the hard mineral component of bone, can be deposited in the skin. This is an abnormal condition associated with other disease processes, such as dermatomyositis.
This photograph demonstrates the sign "heliotrope eyelids" in which the eyelids develop a brown (violaceous - rather than red) color. Heliotrope eyelids and Gottron's papules on the knuckles are characteristic findings in dermatomyositis.
The appearance of purple (violaceous) plaques on the knees may be associated with dermatomyositis. Typically, most lesions associated with other diseases are red (erythematous).
These are Gottron's papules, seen in dermatomyositis (an inflammatory disease of the muscles and skin). Violet colored inflammation (violaceous color) over the knuckles is an important diagnostic finding in dermatomyositis, since other skin conditions produce more redness.
Inflammation of the connective tissues (dermatomyositis) typically produces a reddish-purple (violaceous) rash. The rash is named after the tendency of plants to grow toward the sun (heliotropic) and is characteristic of dermatomyositis.
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