title: Inflammatory myopathies: One-center experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to report our experience with inflammatory myositis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 60 patients were evaluated retrospectively, and 43 of them (71.7%) were female. The median age was 45 (17-81). Of all patients, 33 (55%) were diagnosed as polymyositis, 22 (36.6%) as dermatomyositis (classical, amyopathic, and malignancy-associated), and 5 (8.33%) as undifferentiated myositis. The 3 patients with malignancy-associated dermatomyositis had lung cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and endometrial cancer. Two patients with polymyositis had a history of low-grade gastric mixed tumor and thymoma but were diagnosed 7 and 12 years ago, and no recurrences have been reported during the routine controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients, other than two with malignancy-associated dermatomyositis, were treated via immunosuppressive agent, and the third patient with lung cancer was diagnosed later and gave up immunosuppressive therapy. Thirty-nine (65%) of the patients were treated via oral low-dose steroid, and 19 (31.7%) were treated via intravenous high-dose pulse steroid therapy. All patients were treated with steroid, which was tapered by time, and 23 (38.3%) were treated with azathioprine, 6 (10%) were treated with cyclophosphamide, 3 (5%) were treated with methotrexate, and 6 (10%) were treated with isolated steroid therapy at the time of diagnosis. The median follow-up period was 37 (2-135) months. Six patients (10%) have died-3 due to myocardial infarction, 1 due to septic shock, 1 due to malignancy, and 1 with an unknown reason. The 5-year survival rate was 76.9%, and the 10-year survival rate was 40%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Other than the high ratio of PM in our series, all other results were compatible with the literature. We faced few resistant diseases; therefore, biologic agents were used rarely.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Metin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Işık
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Şule
authors.initials: Ş
authors.lastname: Bilgen
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: İsmail
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Doğan
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kılıç
keywords: Inflammatory myositis; malignancy-associated myositis; polymyositis