There have been five reported instances of polymyositis and diffuse fibrosing alveolitis in the one patient (Mills and Mathews, 1956; Goldfischer and Rubin, 1959; Hyun, Diggs, and Toone, 1962; Pace, Decker, and Martin, 1963; Sandbank, Grunebaum, and Katzenellenbogen, 1966). Additional but less definite cases were reported by Pace et al. (1963), in which the pulmonary changes were more suggestiv...

Metastatic tuberculous abscesses or cutaneous tuberculous gummas occur mostly by reactivation of ancient cutaneous foci and is triggered mainly by pharmacological immunosuppression, diabetes mellitus, alcoholism or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The present case report refers to a 33-year-old male patient with polymyositis and a previous diagnosis of treated pulmonary tuberculosis. He pres...

From an extensive model developed to interpret physiological processes we are able to show that the observed elevated creatine kinase-myoglobin (CK-MB) and serum concentration of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) values for a particular patient are associated with the inflammatory disease, polymyositis, and not myocardial injury. This highlights that caution must be exercised in using elevated CK-MB an...

Dermatomyositis and polymyositis are disabling rheumatic diseases characterized by an appreciable number of T cells infiltrating muscle tissue. The precise phenotype, function and specificity of these cells remain elusive. In this study, we aimed to characterize T cells in muscle tissue and circulation and to investigate their association to clinical phenotype. Twenty-four patients with dermato...

Polymyositis is an inflammatory myopathy characterized by mononuclear cell infiltration of muscle tissue. Myocytotoxic T lymphocytes have been recognized in the infiltrates, but the muscle antigen, target of the immune attack, has not been identified. Molecular characterization of the variable regions of T cell receptors (TCRs) on the infiltrating lymphocytes can be expected to provide insights...

192 JAPI • VOL. 51 • FEBRUARY 2003 A 33-year-old woman was diagnosed with polymyositis eight years ago and treated with corticosteroids and methotrexate. Three years later she had a relapse of polymyositis. At this time she also developed joint pains involving the small and large joints. The distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints were notably affected with subluxation of the thumb (Fig. 1). Radiog...

The presence of both toxoplasmic myocarditis and myositis in the same individual has been reported only at autopsy. We report the first case of biopsy-proven toxoplasmic myocarditis and polymyositis simultaneously occurring in the same individual that was diagnosed during life. Results of her toxoplasmic serology were consistent with acute toxoplasmosis. She subsequently developed visual sympto...

BACKGROUND Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas only rarely is associated with inflammatory myopathy. In this setting, polymyositis may be treated with glucocorticoids in combination with cancer specific treatment. CASE PRESENTATION We present the case of a 52-year-old man with stage IIA pancreatic tail adenocarcinoma who underwent surgical treatment and six months into therapy with gemcitabine he ...

Autoimmune rheumatic diseases, such as polymyositis and dermatomyositis, have been demonstrated to carry a risk of the development of malignancy. Thyroid cancer is a rare occurrence in this setting; however, multiple cases have been reported. We present two cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma associated with dermatomyositis and polymyositis. The first patient is a 64-year-old female found to h...

Polymyositis is a non-hereditary disorder chiefly affecting the musculature of the limb girdles, neck, and pharynx (Walton and Adams, 1959; Barwick and Walton, 1963); it has features suggesting an immunological pathogenesis-notably the histology, the association with collagen disorders and malignancy, and the responsiveness to steroids and immunosuppressive agents (Walton and Adams, 1959; Barwi...