What is Dermatomyositis?

What is Dermatomyositis?

• Dermatomyositis: A muscle disease characterized by chronic muscle inflammation resulting in progressive muscle weakness and a characteristic rash.
• Dermatomyositis: progressive condition characterized by symmetric proximal muscular weakness with elevated serum levels of muscle enzymes and a skin rash, typically a purplish-red erythema on the face, and edema of the eyelids and periorbital tissue; affected muscle tissue shows degeneration of fibers with a chronic inflammatory reaction; occurs in children and adults, and in the latter may be associated with visceral cancer or other disorders of connective tissue.
  Source - Diseases Database
• Dermatomyositis: myositis characterized by weakness of limb and neck muscles and much muscle pain and selling accompanied by skin rash affecting cheeks and eyelids and neck and chest and limbs; progression and severity vary among individuals.
  Source - WordNet 2.1

Dermatomyositis is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Dermatomyositis, or a subtype of Dermatomyositis, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Dermatomyositis as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet

Dermatomyositis: Introduction

Types of Dermatomyositis:

Broader types of Dermatomyositis:

• Autoimmune diseases
• Rheumatic conditions
• Muscle conditions
• more types...»

How many people get Dermatomyositis?

Prevalance of Dermatomyositis: 13,462 people with polymyositis/dermatomyositis in the USA 1996 ¹
Prevalance Rate of Dermatomyositis: approx 1 in 20,205 or 0.00% or 13,461 people in USA [about data]

Who gets Dermatomyositis?

Patient Profile for Dermatomyositis: Children and adults; usually adults 40-60 or children 5-15

Profile for Dermatomyositis: The disease has a gradual onset and generally begins in the second decade of life. Polymyositis rarely affects persons under the age of 18. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Polymyositis Information Page: NINDS) ... The disease, which has a subacute (somewhat short and relatively severe) onset, affects both children and adults. Females are more often affected than males. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Dermatomyositis Information Page: NINDS)

Gender Profile for Dermatomyositis: Females more than males.

Gender Ratio for Dermatomyositis: female:male 2:1

How serious is Dermatomyositis?

Prognosis of Dermatomyositis: 20% die in first year in extreme cases, 5-16 years survival in children is 75%, 2 to several years survival in chronic forms, cancer removal may cure the condition
Complications of Dermatomyositis: see complications of Dermatomyositis
Prognosis of Dermatomyositis: The prognosis for polymyositis varies. Response to therapy varies from very good to satisfactory. Some patients have a more severe disease that does not respond adequately to therapies and are left with significant disability. Death is rare but may occur in patients with severe and progressive muscle weakness, dysphagia, malnutrition, pneumonia, or respiratory failure. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Polymyositis Information Page: NINDS) ... Most cases of dermatomyositis respond to therapy. The disease is usually more severe and resistant to therapy in patients with cardiac or pulmonary problems. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Dermatomyositis Information Page: NINDS)

What causes Dermatomyositis?

Causes of Dermatomyositis: see causes of Dermatomyositis

What are the symptoms of Dermatomyositis?

Symptoms of Dermatomyositis: see symptoms of Dermatomyositis

Complications of Dermatomyositis: see complications of Dermatomyositis

Onset of Dermatomyositis: usually in 4th-6th decade

Can anyone else get Dermatomyositis?

Contagion of autoimmunity: generally not; see details in contagion of autoimmune diseases.
Inheritance: see inheritance of Dermatomyositis

Dermatomyositis: Testing

Diagnostic testing: see tests for Dermatomyositis.

Misdiagnosis: see misdiagnosis and Dermatomyositis.

How is it treated?

Treatments for Dermatomyositis: see treatments for Dermatomyositis
Research for Dermatomyositis: see research for Dermatomyositis

Society issues for Dermatomyositis

Hospitalization statistics for Dermatomyositis: The following are statistics from various sources about hospitalizations and Dermatomyositis:

• 0.011% (1,465) of hospital consultant episodes were for dermatopolymyositis in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 89% of hospital consultant episodes for dermatopolymyositis required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 36% of hospital consultant episodes for dermatopolymyositis were for men in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 64% of hospital consultant episodes for dermatopolymyositis were for women in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 19% of hospital consultant episodes for dermatopolymyositis required emergency hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 10.2 days was the mean length of stay in hospitals for dermatopolymyositis in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 4 days was the median length of stay in hospitals for dermatopolymyositis in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• more statistics...»

Organs Affected by Dermatomyositis:

Organs and body systems related to Dermatomyositis include:

• Muscle
• Connective tissue

Name and Aliases of Dermatomyositis

Main name of condition: Dermatomyositis

Class of Condition for Dermatomyositis: autoimmune

Polymyositis, dermatopolymyositis, polymyositis syndromes, idiopathic polymyositis, Wagner-Unverricht syndrome, dermatomucomyositis, neuromyositis

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy, Wagner-Unverricht syndrome, Polymyositis Source - Diseases Database

Adult dermatomyositis, Dermatomyositis sine myositis
Source - Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Dermatomyositis:

• Connective tissue disorder
• Polymyositis
• Lupus
• Scleroderma
• Vasculitis
• Paraneoplastic disorder
• Plasmapheresis
• Steroids
• Chemotherapy
• Interstial lung disease
• Chronic inflammatory myopathy
• Dermatomyositis
• Inclusion body myositis
• Lyme disease
• Toxoplasmosis
• High-dose steroids
• Dysphagia
• Muscle weakness

 » Next page: Online Medical Textbooks for Dermatomyositis

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