HIGH-DOSE IMMUNOGLOBULIN THERAPY FOR A PATIENT WITH DERMATOMYOSITIS

A 46-year-old woman was admitted to our department complaining of derm al eruption and weakness of muscles, She was diagnosed as having derma tomyositis and was initially treated with prednisolone, Since her cond ition rapidly deteriorated, high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG ) therapy (0.4 g/kg/day i.v, for 5 days) was administered. Marked impr ovement in muscle strength was observed the following day after the fi rst administration, She unfortunately died of pneumocystis carinii pne umonitis 2 weeks after the IVIG therapy. Autopsy revealed no inflammat ory cells in the muscles, suggesting that IVIG therapy has an importan t clinical application for refractory dermatomyositis.