ANTI-JO-1-POSITIVE POLYMYOSITIS WITH INTE RSTITIAL ALVEOLITIS AND PERICARDIAL-EFFUSION - REVIEW OF A 3-YEAR TREATMENT

We describe the case of a 53-year-old woman who developed polymyositis with extramuscular complications: interstitional lung fibrosis, peric arditis and a pericardial effusion, polyarthritis, Raynaud's syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, sclerodactylia and positive anti-Jo-1-antibodi es. We treated her for 3 years. Pericarditis and pericardial effusion with a fibrosing lung alveolitis were the first clinical manifestation s of positive Jo-1-syndrome. We stress the patient's serious cardiac d isease accompanied by pericardial effusion, which has seldom been desc ribed in specialist articles. Steroid treatment induced remission of t he disease, but the Jo-1-antibodies did not disappear from the patient 's serum.