Although there is good evidence that D-penicillamine can induce polymyositis, the exact pathogenic mechanism remains unclear. We report two patients with psoriatic arthritis and primary biliary cirrhosis respectively, who developed polymyositis while receiving D-penicillamine treatment for their primary diseases. Whether D-penicillamine treatment was the sole cause of polymyositis or acted as a...

A 21 year old woman presented with acute polymyositis associated with fatal myocarditis. The significance of cardiac involvement in polymyositis is discussed in relation to this unusually fulminant case.

Polymyositis (PM) is a chronic disease characterized by muscle pain, weakness, and increase in muscle-related enzymes, accompanied with inflammations in lymphocytes. However, it is not well understood how the molecular alternations in lymphocytes contribute to the development of polymyositis. The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling is the central regulator of metabolism and inflamm...

BACKGROUND Currently, there are few studies that describe pregnancy in dermatomyositis/polymyositis patients, and they are largely limited to case reports or studies with few samples. OBJECTIVES Therefore, we describe the pregnancy in a large sample of patients with dermatomyositis/polymyositis and to analyze the outcomes in those who became pregnant during or after disease onset. METHODS T...

OBJECTIVES Costimulatory molecules are increasingly recognized as crucial for stimulation and/ or inhibition of immune responses. The present study was undertaken to examine the expression and functional relevance of B7-homolog 1 (B7-H1) attributed significant immunoregulatory functions in polymyositis in vivo. METHODS 43 muscle biopsy specimens obtained from patients with polymyositis, 26 ca...

Cardiac involvement is one of the most significant factors in the poor clinical outcome of polymyositis. The case of a 39 year old African American woman with polymyositis, cardiomyopathy, and severe heart failure who had orthotopic heart transplantation is described. Review of the literature reveals that cardiac manifestations of polymyositis are frequent and include conduction system abnormal...

Polymyositis marked the clinical onset of Chagas's disease in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. This is unusual, although clinically unimportant muscle involvement in trypanosomiasis has been described. The plasma cell infiltrate and vascular deposition of IgM and C3 suggest that the humoral immune system may play a role in the pathogenesis of chagasic polymyositis. It is not known whether t...

Although D-penicillamine has been used for many rheumatologic diseases, toxicity limits its usefulness in many patients. Polymyositis/dermatomyositis can develop as one of the autoimmune complications of D-penicillamine treatment, but its exact pathogenesis remains unclear. We report a patient with primary biliary cirrhosis, who developed polymyositis while receiving D-penicillamine therapy. We...

introduction:spontaneous pneumomediastinum, pneumothorax, and subcutaneous emphysema are rare, but serious complications of inflammatory myopathies and occur more commonly in dm than pm. complications of dermatomyositis (dm) and polymyositis (pm), both of which can be fatal. case report:a 20-year-old woman was admitted with neck pain, dyspnea, cough, and fever. she had been diagnosed with derma...

The distinction between polymyalgia rheumatica and polymyositis is important for treatment and prognosis. Four elderly patients were diagnosed and treated for polymyalgia: raised creatine kinase led to muscle biopsy and a diagnosis of polymyositis.