A Cutaneous Lesion Associated With Primary Polymyositis

Abstract

Polymyositis is a nonsuppurating inflammatory disease of the striated muscle characterized clinically by the presence of proximal muscular weakness that is sometimes associated with pain.¹This disease falls within a broader category known as<i>idiopathic inflammatory myopathy</i>, which includes the forms of myositis that are secondary to connective tissue disease and neoplasms and myositis with inclusion bodies.²Polymyositis is differentiated from dermatomyositis by the absence of the characteristic cutaneous lesions.¹ Stahl et al³reported the presence of hyperkeratosis of the fleshy pad and the lateral aspect of the fingers to be a marker for idiopathic inflammatory myositis. We describe a woman with primary polymyositis associated with hyperkeratosis of the fingers of both hands. <h3>Report of a Case.</h3> A 55-year-old housewife presented in August 1991 with arthromyalgia, predominantly in the-upper limbs, affecting the shoulders, wrists, and metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints of both hands. She also complained