title: Successful resection of dermatomyositis associated with thymic carcinoma: report of a case.
abstract: We report a case of thymic carcinoma associated with dermatomyositis (DM) in a 53-year-old man. The patient presented with the characteristic features of a skin rash with Gottron's papules, proximal muscle weakness, and increased serum levels of the muscle-associated enzymes. Comprehensive clinical examinations revealed an anterior mediastinal tumor. We resected the tumor and histological examination confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the thymus. Thereafter, his clinical symptoms improved dramatically and his serum levels of muscle-associated enzymes dropped, indicating that the DM was a paraneoplastic phenomenon. Our search of the literature found only one other case report of DM accompanied by thymic carcinoma, and to our knowledge, this is the fi rst documented case of dramatic improvement of DM after resection of thymic carcinoma. We propose that thymic carcinoma should be added to the list of malignancies that can complicate DM as a paraneoplastic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumiyuki
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuta
authors.forename: Tetsutaro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagaoka
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Yoshiteru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morio
authors.forename: Kazue
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Toshimasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uekusa
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Anami
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuno
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yoshinosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukuchi
mesh_terms: D001964:Bromhexine; D003882:Dermatomyositis / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010257:Paraneoplastic Syndromes / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011859:Radiography; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D001964:Bromhexine