EOSINOPHILIC MYOSITIS PERIMYOSITIS - FREQUENCY AND SPECTRUM OF CUTANEOUS MANIFESTATIONS

Background: Eosinophilic myositis/perimyositis (EM/P) are a group of r are idiopathic muscle disorders associated with eosinophilia. Objectiv e: We describe the frequency and spectrum of cutaneous manifestations in EM/P and compare them with the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrom e (HES).Methods: We review the literature on EM/P and describe an addi tional case associated with angioedema. Results: Of a total of 26 repo rted patients with EM/P, cutaneous manifestations were observed in 10. These were, in order of frequency, deep subcutaneous induration, eryt hema, angioedema, urticaria, and papular lesions. Conclusion: Skin les ions occur less frequently in EM/P than in HES. Although erythematous papulonodular lesions and urticaria/angioedema are most commonly obser ved in HES, the most frequent skin manifestations of EM/P are subcutan eous induration and erythema. In HES, angioedema has been correlated w ith a favorable prognosis. At least some of these patients apparently have an idiopathic eosinophilic disorder distinct from HES, including EM/P. In contrast to HES, the overall prognosis of EM/P is good, parti cularly when muscle lesions are focal, and the principal histopatholog ic finding is perimysial infiltrates.