Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Nobutoh, Toshiko
• Kohda, Mamoru
• Doi, Yumiko
• Ueki, Hiroaki

Titel

An Autopsy Case of Dermatomyositis with Rapidly Progressive Diffuse Alveolar Damage

Ist Teil von

• Journal of dermatology, 1998-01, Vol.25 (1), p.32-36

Ort / Verlag

England

Erscheinungsjahr

1998

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• A 47‐year‐old woman visited a clinic with dyspnea which had continued for two months and was followed by general fatigue and fever. Antibiotics were not effective. Edematous erythema occurred on her face, elbows, knees and feet, and she entered our hospital. A skin biopsy revealed interface dermatitis with severe edema and mucinosis in dermis. Diffuse bilateral infiltration was observed in the chest X‐ray, and laboratory findings showed increased LDH, GPT, GOT and CPK. No antinuclear factor was detected. Her respiratory condition rapidly worsened, and she died eight days after hospitalization in spite of corticosteroid pulse therapy. The autopsy revealed that the main cause of death was diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). Interstitial pneumonia related to dermatomyositis is not histologically uniform; the response to the therapy depends on its histological type. The patients with dermatomyositis who have poor prognosis are clinically characterized by acute onset with general symptoms and less pronounced muscle weakness; they generally show DAD in their lungs. We need to establish a simple method for distinguishing histological types of interstitial pneumonia and adequate therapy for each one.