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Long-term efficacy of intravenously administered immunoglobulin in a case of polymyositis with limited application of steroid therapy

  • Case Report
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Modern Rheumatology

Abstract

A 72-year-old man who had been diagnosed with polymyositis (PM) was admitted to our hospital for pneumonia with exacerbation of muscle weakness, elevation of muscle enzymes, and positive magnetic resonance imaging findings. The patient had been refractory to cyclosporine A or azathioprine and hoped to avoid administration of high-dose steroids; IV immunoglobulin (IVIG) was therefore administered after improvement of the pneumonia. Two weeks after the IVIG therapy, muscle test scores, activities of daily living, and muscle enzymes were drastically improved. Twenty months after IVIG, no relapse of PM was observed.

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Abbreviations

ADL:

Activities of daily living

ALD:

Aldolase

AST:

Aspartate aminotransferase

AZP:

Azathioprine

CK:

Creatinine kinase

CyA:

Cyclosporine A

DM:

Dermatomyositis

IVIG:

Intravenous immunoglobulin

MMT:

Manual muscle test scores

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

PM:

Polymyositis

STIR:

Short tau inversion recovery

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Translational Medicine, Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan

    Hideki Nakamura, Atsushi Kawakami, Mami Tamai, Satoshi Yamasaki, Hiroaki Ida & Katsumi Eguchi

  2. Isahaya Health Insurance General Hospital, Isahaya, Japan

    Keita Fujikawa

Authors
  1. Hideki Nakamura
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  2. Keita Fujikawa
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  3. Atsushi Kawakami
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  4. Mami Tamai
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  5. Satoshi Yamasaki
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  6. Hiroaki Ida
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  7. Katsumi Eguchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hideki Nakamura.

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Nakamura, H., Fujikawa, K., Kawakami, A. et al. Long-term efficacy of intravenously administered immunoglobulin in a case of polymyositis with limited application of steroid therapy. Mod Rheumatol 20, 496–499 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10165-010-0298-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10165-010-0298-2

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