[A case of steroid-resistant polymyositis who made a good response to high dose intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG)].

We report a 69-year-old woman with steroid-resistant polymyositis who made a good response to high dose intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG). She was diagnosed as polymyositis by muscle weakness of her extremities and bulbar muscles, higher level of serum CK and muscle biopsy findings of her biceps brachii muscle. Because of the coexistence of pulmonary tuberculosis and interstitial pneumonia, she was initially treated with 40 mg (1 mg/kg)/day of oral prednisolone, and methylprednisolone pulse therapy 500 mg/day intravenous drip (d.i.v.) x 3 days, 750 mg/day d.i.v. x 3 days. Since her condition deteriorated in spite of these conventional therapies, IVIG therapy 15 g (375 mg/kg)/day d.i.v. x 3 days was administrated. She showed remarkable improvement of serum CK level and muscle strength. Although corticosteroid is the mainstay of therapy for polymyositis, our case study showed that IVIG is also an efficacious therapy for polymyositis, especially resistant to the conventional treatment.