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Dermatomyositis: An Update on Diagnosis and Treatment

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Abstract

Dermatomyositis is a rare inflammatory disease with characteristic cutaneous findings and varying amounts of systemic involvement. Patients may present with skin disease alone, have concomitant muscle disease, or have extracutaneous manifestations such as pulmonary disease or an associated malignancy. Given such diverse presentations, dermatomyositis is both a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. However, a prompt diagnosis is of utmost importance to institute adequate therapy and screen patients for an associated malignancy. Dermatologists should play a crucial role in the diagnosis and management of patients with dermatomyositis as cutaneous disease tends to be chronic, negatively impact quality of life, and be more recalcitrant to therapy. In this review, we discuss diagnosis, with a focus on myositis-specific antibodies and their associated phenotypes. We also review therapies available for this often refractory skin disease.

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Author notes

  1. Alisa Femia and Ruth Ann Vleugels are co-senior authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Autoimmune Skin Disease Program, Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Gabriela A. Cobos & Ruth Ann Vleugels

  2. Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Alisa Femia

Authors
  1. Gabriela A. Cobos
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  2. Alisa Femia
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  3. Ruth Ann Vleugels
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Correspondence to Ruth Ann Vleugels.

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No funding was received for the preparation of this review.

Conflict of interest

Gabriela A. Cobos has no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article. Alisa Femia is a principal investigator for a Pfizer-sponsored trial on dermatomyositis treatment. Ruth Ann Vleugels is a principal investigator for a Pfizer-sponsored trial on dermatomyositis treatment.

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Cobos, G.A., Femia, A. & Vleugels, R.A. Dermatomyositis: An Update on Diagnosis and Treatment. Am J Clin Dermatol 21, 339–353 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40257-020-00502-6

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