Disease patterns of juvenile dermatomyositis from Western India.

A retrospective assessment of clinical characteristics, complications/ associations, laboratory investigations, treatment modalities and outcome in an inceptional cohort of 22 (male-13) children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) receiving treatment at Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai during 1997- 2012 was performed . Mean age at diagnosis was 7.52 ± 3.99 years. Typical skin rash and muscle weakness were present in all children. Common complications included cutaneous ulcers (27.27%), dysphagia (22.72%) and calcinosis (18.18%).All patients presented with at least one of the serum muscle enzymes elevated. Absence of mortality and cardio-pulmonary complications and a monocyclic course in 72.7% of our patients are at variance from Western series.