Problems of Amyopathic Dermatomyositis

Overview

Dermatomyositis represents a progressive autoimmune disease of the connective tissue with SLE-like dermatitis,with inflammatory myopathy and muscular weakness. It is an infrequent and serious disease affecting not only theskin and striatedmuscle. Caseswithout skin affection are classified as polymyositis. Beside autoimmune mechanisms,aetiology includes also genetic, environmental and paraneoplastic factors. Clinical skin symptoms as well ashistopathological findings include Gottron’s papulae, heliotropic periorbital erythrema, which, together withpalpebral oedema, brings about the weepy look of patients. None of these signs is pathognomic and beside thecutaneous symptoms the diagnosis requires 3out of 4other diagnostic criteria for the muscle symptoms. Cutaneoussymptoms can precede myositis with various time intervals; such situation is sometimes classified as Amyopathicdermatomyositis (ADM), dermatitis sinemyositis or skin dermatomyositis.Acase of anADMpatient and the analysisof problematic including the strategy of therapy are presented.

Key words:
dermatomyositis, amyopathic form, therapy.