[Clinical and evolutionary aspects of polymyosite in internal medicine].
BACKGROUND
Polymyositis is a chronic inflammatory disease possibly responsable of various systemic manifestations.


METHODS
Reported is a retrospective done on polymyositis i n internal medecine department in patients from march 1997 to april 2002.


RESULTS
Eleven cases were collected from a total of 6739 admissions giving a prevalence of 0.16%. Sex ratio was 1.2(F/H) with a mean age of 33 years. The most frequent clinical presentation was the muscle signs. It was dominated by the functionnal disability (90.9%), myalgia (81.8%) and dysphagia (36.3%). Systemic manifestations of polymyositis interested articulary, bronchopulmonary, cardiac and neurological areas. Association of polymyositis and other sytemic disease has been found in one patient, who presented also a rhumatoid arthritis. First step treatment was corticotherapy for all patients. Immunosuppressor with azathioprine have been introduced in 2 patients who presented an associated interstitial nulmonary disease. On this treatment we observed 4 cases of total remission, 3 cases of partial remission, 2 death occured and 2 patients have been lost from clinical follow up.


CONCLUSIONS
The long term follow of these chronic disease is a major problem in developping countries. Most of the patients live far from hospital centers and don't have possibility to do complementary exams so as to buy regulary the drugs.
Ndongo
S
S
Clinique médicale I-Hôpital Aristide Le Dantec.
Pouye
A
A
Ka
M M
MM
Leye
A
A
Ndiaye
A D
AD
Diop
T M
TM
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D008297:Male; D017285:Polymyositis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies