R E Hunger1, C Dürr, C U Brand. 1. Dermatological Clinic, Inselspital, University of Berne, Switzerland. re.hunger@gmx.net
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare connective tissue disease which has been shown to be associated with an underlying malignancy. OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the prevalence of malignancy in DM at our clinic and search for characteristics of the paraneoplastic form of disease. METHODS: Retrospective review of patient files and histology reports over the period from 1991 to 1998. RESULTS: 23 patients (14 women and 9 men) with DM could be identified in this time period with a median age at diagnosis of 48 years. Malignancies were found in 5 (22%) cases. The skin biopsies of all patients showed features of DM; in 7 cases, a leukocytoclastic vasculitis was detected. Four of the 5 cases with an associated malignancy demonstrated histologically a vasculitis in lesional skin, compared to only 3 out of 18 cases without malignancy (p < 0.05, Fisher's exact test). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that vasculitis in lesional skin biopsies has a predictive value for the presence of underlying malignancy. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.
BACKGROUND:Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare connective tissue disease which has been shown to be associated with an underlying malignancy. OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the prevalence of malignancy in DM at our clinic and search for characteristics of the paraneoplastic form of disease. METHODS: Retrospective review of patient files and histology reports over the period from 1991 to 1998. RESULTS: 23 patients (14 women and 9 men) with DM could be identified in this time period with a median age at diagnosis of 48 years. Malignancies were found in 5 (22%) cases. The skin biopsies of all patients showed features of DM; in 7 cases, a leukocytoclastic vasculitis was detected. Four of the 5 cases with an associated malignancy demonstrated histologically a vasculitis in lesional skin, compared to only 3 out of 18 cases without malignancy (p < 0.05, Fisher's exact test). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that vasculitis in lesional skin biopsies has a predictive value for the presence of underlying malignancy. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Authors: Alexander G S Oldroyd; Andrew B Allard; Jeffrey P Callen; Hector Chinoy; Lorinda Chung; David Fiorentino; Michael D George; Patrick Gordon; Kate Kolstad; Drew J B Kurtzman; Pedro M Machado; Neil J McHugh; Anna Postolova; Albert Selva-O'Callaghan; Jens Schmidt; Sarah Tansley; Ruth Ann Vleugels; Victoria P Werth; Rohit Aggarwal Journal: Rheumatology (Oxford) Date: 2021-06-18 Impact factor: 7.580