title: Three cases of polymyositis/dermatomyositis complicated by pneumomediastinum.
abstract: Pneumomediastinum is a rare complication of dermatomyositis (DM) and Polymiositis (PM). We report here three cases of PM/DM who developed pneumomediastinum. First case was 61 years old woman with amyopathic dermatomyositis (aDM). Her aDM was complicated with skin ulceration due to vasculopathy, but complicated interstitial pneumonia was not severe. She developed subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum. Second case was 57 years old woman with DM, who had intractable skin phenomena and mild interstitial pneumonia. The patient became subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum following severe vasculopathy of skin. The last case was 63 years old man with PM. His PM was complicated with interstitial pneumonia. He had intractable respiratory symptom. Ten years later, he became subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum following pneumothorax. First and second cases suggest that their pneumomediastinum were due to vasculopathy. On the other hand, pneumomediastinum of the last patient seemed to be associated with interstitial pneumonia and steroid.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Kansai Medical University.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimamoto
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amuro
authors.forename: Yonsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Maiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ota-Imamura
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanijiri
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yagi
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Seibun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yonezu
authors.forename: Shirou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukuhara
mesh_terms: D003882:Dermatomyositis / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008478:Mediastinal Emphysema / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged