[A clinical analysis of dermatomyositis with interstitial lung disease in 20 patients].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinical features of the patients with dermatomyositis (DM) complicated with interstitial lung disease (ILD).


METHODS
The clinical manifestations and the laboratory data of the 20 patients with DM complicated with ILD were retrospectively analyzed.


RESULTS
Among 169 DM patients, 20(11.8%) were founded with ILD and 4 had no complaint of respiratory system. The ratio of male to female was 1:2.33. The level of serum creatine kinase (CK) was elevated in 11 cases. Anti-Jo-1 antibody was positive in 4 cases. Bilateral infiltrates including ground-glass attenuation, interlobular septal thickening and reticular opacities were found by chest high resolution computed tomography. The impairment of lung function was manifested as the decreased diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide of the lung (D(L)CO) and restricted ventilatory function abnormalities. Fifteen cases showed hypoxemia or respiratory failure by arterial blood gas analysis. All patients were treated with glucocorticoid and/or immunosuppressive agents. Totally, 14 patients had improved, while 2 patients with no improvement and 4 patients died with a mortality of 20%.


CONCLUSIONS
DM complicated with ILD which is easily missed has a high morbidity and mortality. The understanding of DM complicated with ILD should be enhanced, thus early diagnosis and intervention could be performed for better prognosis.
Department of Geriatric, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China. lih7510@163.com
Hong
H
Li
Qing
Q
Lin
Hong-mei
HM
Jiao
Xin-min
XM
Liu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003882:Dermatomyositis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017563:Lung Diseases, Interstitial / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies