title: Joint involvement in polymyositis/dermatomyositis.
abstract: The frequency and features of joint involvement were evaluated in 29 patients with polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM); eight of them (27.5%) presented arthritis. Mean age was 30 years, and mean disease duration was 5.3 years. Oligoarthritis was observed in 5 cases, while 3 presented polyarthritis; in most cases arthritis was concurrent with the musculocutaneous picture. On comparing the 8 arthritis patients with the remaining 21, no significant clinical or serological differences were found. However, males predominated in the arthritis group, 75% vs 19% (p < 0.05). Arthritis responded favourably to underlying disease treatment and articular sequelae were not observed.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Department, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Citera
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gõni
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Maldonado Cocco
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Scheines
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001168:Arthritis / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003240:Connective Tissue Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D003882:Dermatomyositis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017285:Polymyositis / Q000473:pathology*