title: Prominent subcutaneous oedema as a masquerading symptom of an underlying inflammatory myopathy.
abstract: The inflammatory myopathies are a group of immune-mediated inflammatory muscle disorders that typically present with marked proximal muscle weakness. We report four cases of inflammatory myopathies with marked subcutaneous oedema as their main complaint. Three of the four patients had normal or low levels of creatine kinase, an enzyme often markedly elevated in these disorders. Magnetic resonance imaging of the muscles, followed by a muscle biopsy were used to make a definitive diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anantharajah
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vucic
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Surjit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tarafdar
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Department of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Roslyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vongsuvanh
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wilcken
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Department of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5315-6445
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swaminathan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000032:analysis; D004487:Edema / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018908:Muscle Weakness / Q000209:etiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology*; D009220:Myositis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D011239:Prednisolone; D003402:Creatine Kinase
keywords: MRI; creatine kinase; dermatomyositis; myositis; polymyositis; subcutaneous oedema