Neurológia pre prax 5/2014

Polymyositis

Polymyositis is a rare disease manifesting with muscle weakness located particularly to proximal parts of extremities. A number of patients have also extramuscular manifestations, such as dysphagia, interstitial lung disease or arthritis. Muscle biopsy shows endomysial inflammatory infiltrate and MHC class I hyperexpression on muscle cells, EMG displays myogenic findings, and usually CK and/or other muscle enzyme levels are elevated. Detection of serum autoantibodies is diagnostically and prognostically helpful since some of them are specific for myositis and typical for particular clinical situations, such as antisynthetase syndrome. Many patients with PM respond to glucocorticoid or immunosuppressive treatment; full resistance prompts to diagnosis verification.

Keywords: myositis, inflammatory myopathy, classification, autoantibodies, treatment.