Patients With Dermatomyositis/Polymyositis During Pregnancy
Dermatomyositis and polymyositis belong to the group of inflammatory muscle
diseases characterized by inflammation of the muscles and represent immune-mediated
syndromes secondary to defective cellular immunity with an incidence in the United States
that ranges from 0.5-8.4 cases per million population and it is more common within the black
population.
Evidence support the idea of a T-cell–mediated cytotoxic process directed against
unidentified muscle antigens with the factors triggering a T-cell–mediated process being still
unclear.
Due to common symptoms and laboratory tests (increased levels of muscle enzymes),
DM and PM are usually studied together.
The most common symptom of those diseases is
symmetric muscle weakness, pain and tenderness. DM also appears to have skin manifestations
(93%) not observed in PM, a characteristic that also makes it easier to diagnose (in adittion to
the other diagnostic criteria that involve abnormal elctromyograph, elevated serum levels of
CK and muscle biopsy)
Regarding pregnant patients affected with DM/PM, important individual issues arise
as: (A) Do female patients with DM/PM successfully complete pregnancy, giving birth to
healthy infants or is there high risk of complications for both mother and fetus?
(B) Is there a connection between activity of DM/PM and high risk of complications during gestation? (C) Does pregnancy increase the risk of DM/PM activation? (D) Does pregnancy increase the risk of DM/PM relapse during or right after gestation? After our attempt to answer these questions, we will refer to the treatment of the disease during pregnancy and the effect it could have on the completion of pregnancy.
Gynecol Obstet Res Open J. 2017; 4(1): 11-15. doi: 10.17140/GOROJ-4-138
