title: Venous thromboembolism in patients with dermatomyositis and polymyositis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the incidence of venous thromboembolic events in dermatomyositis and polymyositis patients, and associated factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively studied a cohort of 123 myositis patients (87 dermatomyositis, 36 polymyositis) from a single centre and identified cases with deep vein thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism. Type of myositis, association with cancer, presence of thrombophilia, disease activity, and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy were analysed. Incidence rates were calculated on the basis of time to first venous thrombotic event. Patients with less than 12 months' follow-up were excluded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six new first thromboembolic events occurred in 6 of 96 patients studied (6.3%), all with dermatomyositis. Median time to development of venous thromboembolism was 4.3 months (IQR, 0.8-8.8) after the dermatomyositis diagnosis. Venous thromboembolism was significantly associated with intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (p<0.05) and older age (p<0.05), but not with cancer. All events (100%) occurred during active myositis. The incidence density of venous thromboembolism among patients with dermatomyositis according to the first year of follow-up was 9.3 per 1000 person-years (95% CI, 3.4 to 20.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A trend toward venous thromboembolism was detected in patients with dermatomyositis.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Vall d´Hebron General Hospital, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. aselva@vhebron.net
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Selva-O'Callaghan
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-Luque
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Martínez-Gómez
authors.forename: Ane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Labirua-Iturburu
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vilardell-Tarrés
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003882:Dermatomyositis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology*