An update on the diagnosis and management of juvenile dermatomyositis

Abstract

Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a rare pediatric rheumatic disease. It belongs to the group of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies of childhood. JDM is the most frequent of the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (it represents 85% of cases) among children. JDM is classified by the Bohan and Peter criteria set in 1975. New criteria are being developed and newly developed diagnostic tools are being used in daily clinical practice. This review focuses on recent publications regarding the epidemiology, pathogenesis, classification and treatment of JDM, and will discuss some relevant publications from the adult myositis literature.